Got proof of Elon Musk's emerald mine rumour? Twitter boss has $1M Dogecoin reward for you

Twitter CEO Elon Musk is finally putting a years-old rumor to rest by openly challenging people to show evidence that could support whether he or his family has ever owned an emerald mine. “I will pay a million Dogecoin for proof of this mine’s existence," tweeted the billionaire, after the account, DogeDesigner urged news outlets propagating the rumour to send proof of it in exchange for 69.420 Doge, a form of cryptocurrency. 

Musk's bounty amounts to about $84,000, and aims to quell the speculation that has followed the Tesla founder like a shadow. Several news reports over the years have said that Musk's father Errol was interested in an emerald mine. However, the billionaire has always refuted it.

Last year, he took to Twitter to write: “He [Errol] didn’t own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. I couldn’t even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. Where is this bs coming from?”

Musk dispels emerald mine rumour

Musk also addressed the rumour earlier in January, and said that “the fake emerald mine thing is so annoying (sigh). Like where exactly is this thing anyway!?” The saga seems to have begun in 2014 when Forbes said that Musk revealed in an interview that his father held a share in a Zambian mine.

“This is going to sound slightly crazy, but my father also had a share in an emerald mine in Zambia,” Musk was quoted as saying. However, the report no longer appears on the magazine's website, according to news.com.au. Snopes, a fact-checking portal, also says that there is no evidence to back the rumor, at least until someone tags Musk to claim the bounty.