In recent years, Elon Musk has consistently held the title of being the richest person in the world, or as some historians say, in the history as well. The South African entrepreneur entered 2025 with a net worth valued at more than $400 billion, according to the Forbes magazine.
There are many interesting facts surrounding the 53-year-old billionaire, especially those related to his extended family, as he has 12 children, several of them twins.
Musk’s success revolves mainly around his multi-billion dollar technology companies, which include the electric car manufacturer Tesla, the rocket producer SpaceX, the artificial intelligence startup xAI, the social network X, the nanotechnology company Neuralink, among others.
Elon Musk said Twitter violated the terms of the purchase agreement by failing to provide detailed information about the bots.
Although his business career has revolved around technology, Elon Musk mentioned in an interview his concern about children’s relationship with social media and the internet.
The businessman expressed his concern about the part these technologies have come to account for in children and expressed his deep concern for not having set limits on his children’s use of digital platforms, adding that he would take a stricter stance today.
“If I could go back in time, I would restrict access much more and monitor what my children watch in front of the screen,” were the words of Elon Musk.
It’s not the only instance that the South African tycoon has talked about this addiction, he has issued various appeals to parents many times in recent years, warning them about the risks that social media can pose to their children’s upbringing and development.
Elon Musk has asserted that digital platforms are designed to maximise dopamine, a hormone that plays a fundamental role in learning, memory, attention, mood, and motivation, which increases the risk of children being “programmed” by the artificial intelligence that powers these services.
Because of this, the billionaire has asserted that uncontrolled use of social media and other platforms can have detrimental effects on children’s development, which is why he is emphatic in urging parents to reduce the amount of time their children spend on screens and to monitor the type of content they consume.
As the saying goes, “Man is a product of his environment,” and today’s environment is saturated with dopamine triggers that desensitise the brain, reducing its willingness to engage in effortful tasks when an easy dopamine release is readily available.
Losing your cell phone and social media is a new phobia
Nowadays, it’s very common for even the youngest members of the household to use cell phones for entertainment; however, when mobile device use is too frequent, it creates a dependency, addiction, or fear that has been classified as “nomophobia.”
The Center for Addiction Treatment, popularly known as the NOA Institute, describes nomophobia as the irrational fear of being without a mobile phone or internet connection. The term was coined in 2009 in the United Kingdom and comes from the Anglicized “nomophobia,” meaning “no-mobile-phone-phobia.”
“It’s one of the diseases of the 21st century and is driven by the increasing ownership of multiple mobile devices per family in recent years. Data provided by the UK National Statistics Institute reveals that 96% of families have at least one mobile phone, and that 77% of people who access the internet do so through this electronic device,” the Addiction Treatment Center points out.
On the other hand, health websites mention that nomophobia doesn’t develop overnight, but rather is a consequence of certain unhealthy habits, such as reaching for your cell phone whenever you find yourself in a situation where you don’t feel comfortable.