> convince themselves that the teenager who was walking around with emerald from his family's mine in his pockets was not a rich privileged kid

Most emeralds (and other precious stones, too, but especially emeralds) that come out of the ground are essentially worthless.

https://www.amazon.com/Gemhub-Quality-Emerald-Natural-Wrappe...

There you go. Now you, too, can "walk around with emeralds in your pocket". 12 bucks.

> Most emeralds (and other precious stones, too, but especially emeralds) that come out of the ground are essentially worthless.

As the legend goes, a 16 year old Elon walked into Tiffany's with two emeralds in his pocket which he sold for around $2k only to learn that they were worth 30 times that value.

You can Google for the references if you'd like.

"The legend"?

https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/11/17/elon-musk-emerald-min...

Yeah, I think we're done here.

I don't idolize anyone. I just find this recent vitriol from people who 5 years ago fawned over this man as a visionary exhausting and like to inject some sanity into the discussion. He was a darling to the progressives, until he expressed opinions. Now he's a lepper who never had a good idea in his life and paid other people with his inherited old money wealth to build several of the most successful companies in the world for him. Spare me.

The first article you linked to says it was a twin engine Cessna that he got for fifty grand. The second one says him and his brother sold 2 emeralds for 2000 bucks. Well off, sure. Comes from money? I don't think so.

> don't idolize anyone. I just find this recent vitriol (...)

You're trying too hard to justify white knighting for a billionaire. You need to take a step back from your keyboard and think about what you're saying and doing.