As the story goes, Toralf is the patriarch of the Dittmann family.

The real-life Dittmann is the son of a German software entrepreneur who has launched several businesses in Fiji, including a forestry venture, a bottled water company and a marina and yachting facility. One of those companies entered the Musk Foundation’s $100 million Xprize Carbon Removal contest the same month the Dittmann X account was created, in July 2021. (The Spectator)

When I first read the story, and set about ‘doing my own research’, I was of the mindset that Adrian was a pure fabrication.

Elon Musk is very much a “see what I did there, lol” type of guy, and he thoroughly enjoys hidden or double meanings. As seen in his uses of 420 and 69 (and 14 and 88 when he thinks he can get away with it), Tesla model names S, 3, X, Y, the proposed Texas Institute of Technology and Science (TITS), and of course, DOGE. Not really in a fun or clever sort of way – mainly just juvenile and repetitive. (Maybe S3XY is sort of cute)

Musk’s references are also always very Gen X (even when he’s playing Adrian, who is supposed to be in his early 20s). His book references are from the 80s (when he was a kid and read), his movie and game references from the 90s (when he was a young adult and had friends and his own hair), and his memes from the 00s (when he officially lost himself to the Internet).

I’ve seen and contemplated several plausible theories on where he may have gotten the name “Dittmann”, but had settled on the simplest being the most likely — and that he picked Dittmann sounds like “Tit Man”.

When the family patriarch turned out to be a man named Toralf, it felt far too distinct to not be a reference.

Upon googling the first name name – Toralf – there’s one thing that pops up right away…

Toralf, God of Fury from Magic the Gathering. It felt like too Muskian of a choice for this person to be real.

There are all sorts of red flags associated with Toralf Dittmann’s online presence, not the least of which is its scarcity. For a seemingly successful tech entrepreneur, he doesn’t have much of a digital footprint, and what he does have feels downright sus. He’s a much less prolific tweeter than his son Adrian, but their commonality lies in their greatest interest being all things Elon Musk. (Adrian’s Twitter schedule doesn’t leave room for anything else, and Toralf became a bluecheck subscriber in March 2023 but has only tweeted once since then.)

Although Toral joined Twitter in October 2013, he didn’t tweet anything until July 2020 (at least nothing that hasn’t since been deleted). He has less than 20 tweets total, and every single one is about promoting Musk’s business interests, specifically in regard to Fiji.

If he had started doing this in 2022 or 2023… then OK, maybe. “X” would be the place to go if your sole interest was promoting Musk, or trying to get his attention. But in all those years, to have nothing else but your interest in Elon Musk? It’s not some throwaway name one might use for a burner account “MuskFan69” — his handle is his actual name. That’s his face as his profile pic, and the banner pic is the countryside he lives in.

Although he links to his business site in his profile, he hasn’t ever used his account to promote his own business, just Musk’s.

When it comes to the diversity of businesses that Toralf Dittmann, he seems spread as thin as Musk himself, though on a smaller scale. Since moving to Fiji (2012-ish) he has started an artisan water company, a superyacht concierge service, commercial barging, timber and agroforestry, and opened a retail store. That store, and the then President of Fiji’s appearance at its grand opening, was a pivotal piece of the Spectator story’s receipts. (We’ll get into the China connections later)

Before Toralf started any of his businesses in Fiji – there was Framesoft. “Framesoft, Ltd” appears to be a “real” company, at least in the sense that a legal entity in the UK exists registered to Toralf Dittmann on 8/14/2000. The company appears to file financial statements every year and is in active standing. (The parent company, Framesoft AG is registered in Switzerland, and founded in 1999.)

framesoft.com has existed on the Internet for over 20 years. All of Dittmann’s newer companies have sprung from this first one, and he seems to primarily identify as a software entrepreneur.

Upon first look, everything about the website instinctively feels fake.

… but, as a commercial insurance agent, I’ve looked at a lot of company websites. Truth be told, they all look sort of fake. Especially the tech companies — all of those words that don’t really say anything seems pretty standard. Finding out what a tech company actualy does is far more difficult than one would think.

My first thought was that Musk owned the domain as sort of a testing ground, which would explain why everything felt like a placeholder. I thought he thine used the Toralf character to create an offspring named Adrian. (I also felt reasonably sure that he had entered his own $100M contest with a pseudonym.)

But after a rather exhaustive review of the Internet Archive, I’ve changed my mind on that piece.

I now believe that Toralf Dittmann is a real person, that he does indeed live in Fiji, and he very likely has a son named Adrian. (As well as another son very close in age — perhaps even a twin). I also have serious doubts about the legitimacy of his compan(ies) — but not enough to go into yet. TBD.

What I don’t know is the connection between Dittmann and Musk… I just know there must be one. If Musk had just commandeered this kid’s name and backstory without him knowing, we surely would have heard from him by now. He’s obviously aware of it — when googling “Adrian Dittmann”, the Musk thing is all that comes up.

I believe the connection with Adrian may have been achieved through Toralf, but I have yet to find that thread.

The few and far between details that Adrian has disclosed about his life have been remarkably vague… but they do match up with details we have since learned about the guy in Fiji.

When Adrian first started joining and promoting X Spaces in the Spring of 2023 (just as Meta was gearing up to release Threads). Adrian twice mentioned his former acne problem and he credited adopting a keto diet with clearing up his skin.

Based on the limited video/picture that is available of the real Adrian Dittmann, it appears accurate that acne has been a struggle. But I don’t think this consistency adds credibility to the idea that the man speaking is the “real” Adrian Dittmann… quite the opposite. I just don’t see how a young man would bring up his acne voluntarily, let alone multiple times and early on. Especially if he didn’t intend to show his face on camera anyway.

But, if Musk knew some basic details about the person attached to the name, including seeing a picture, the acne would have likely bothered him. He was creating a character here, a fantasy — using Adrian in a sort of reverse catfish situation. I believe Musk’s objective with Dittmann expanded in 2023 — from a manipulation tool for Tesla stock to becoming a full time Twitter promoter. He was a Twitter addict before he was its owner, and through Adrian I think he was trying to make friends, manipulate Tesla stock, and recapture the youth he so sorely misses.

What if he had all the money and drugs he has now, but he was also fit, 21, and he still had his own hair? We didn’t have social media in the 90s. Shit’s come a long way since AOL chatrooms. (A/S/L?)

I genuinely think Elon’s fantasy was tainted by his surrogate having bad skin. It may have bothered him so much that he impulsively felt the need to address it and establish up front that Adrian *used to* have acne. Just in case you find a photo. Not now though. Now he’s a total Chad.