2025-04-29 18:25 Personalities

Maye Musk

"I am only just beginning!" — Maye Musk loves to repeat this, regardless of her age. She is now 77 years old and an absolute icon in the modeling world.

At 21, Maye became a finalist in the Miss South Africa 1969 pageant. She remains a sought-after model to this day, appearing as the face of major brands like Revlon, Clinique, James Perse, Target, and Virgin America. She has also graced the covers of Time, New York Vogue, and Elle Canada. In the fall of 2017, May became the face of the cosmetics company CoverGirl.

Maye Musk is a health and nutrition specialist. She earned a master's degree in dietetics and nutrition and published a book called "Feel Fantastic". She's also given numerous lectures and helped thousands of women.

Maye Musk (born Haldeman) was born in Canada, but she spent her childhood and youth in Pretoria, South Africa, where her family, the Haldemans, moved in 1950. They had five children altogether.

"I’ve been surrounded by favorable conditions since I was born. I had wonderful parents who provided me with a solid education and were very liberal in their views. I resemble my pretty mom in looks, and I inherited my height from my handsome dad.

In 1970, I married Errol Mask, a South African engineer I met back in high school. We had three children together. But after nine years, our marriage ended. "Persistence bordering on stubbornness," is how I’d say I described my ex-husband many years later.

After the divorce, I wasn’t in the best spirits. I gained 18 pounds in a year. Now I call that weight gain a priceless experience because I learned how tough it can be to lose weight. It definitely helped me adjust my approach as a dietitian. Besides, I became one of the first popular plus-size models at 32. Still, I chose to return to my previous weight".

Later, Maye Musk moved to Canada with her children, where she had to start many things from scratch. "There's a saying, 'By 21, you're no longer an orphan.' It means you're responsible for your own life. The harder you work, the easier it is for luck to find you. My kids know how much I’ve worked. Maybe that's why they became workaholics themselves," Maye says now. "Leading by example is the best example."

The most important achievement for Maye Musk, as she herself believes, is her children. Her youngest son, Kimbal, owns a chain of restaurants called The Kitchen; her daughter, Tosca, is a Hollywood director and producer; and her second son, Elon, is the founder of SpaceX and X.com. Maye calls Elon and Kimbal the main men in her life; moreover, she’s not just a mother of three but also a grandmother to ten grandchildren.

Having crossed the age of 50, Maye became more in demand than she was in her youth. She also says in her lectures that there's no need to be ashamed of aging. She doesn’t color her hair, and her gray hair suits her. "Silver" has become a trend, and even those who are not yet fully gray are starting to imitate it. She first posed nude for the cover of Time when she was over 60 years old.

Despite her toned physique and ease, Maye Musk admits she's not a big sports fan (unlike her twin sister Kaye), but workouts are still an essential part of her life — Maye takes her dog for walks four times a day.

“I spend my time doing what I enjoy, including talking about healthy living at the school where my grandchildren go. I have fun, celebrate my birthdays happily, and I am at peace with my age. I like to have fun… And I would prefer my gravestone to read: ‘She had a good time!’ rather than ‘She was beautiful!’”

Maye Musk is very interested in social media. She tries her hand at being a creative photographer. Her work can be seen on Instagram. Additionally, May organizes fashion photoshoots and creates catalogs of branded products. By the way, she shares her views on life in her book “The Woman makes a Plan”.

“This is the happiest time in my life,” Maye Musk says in an interview, and we have no reason not to believe her.