Elon Musk

by Walter Isaacson

From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.

When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.

His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.

At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life,” he said.

It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground.

For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Business, Audiobook, Technology, History, Biography Memoir

670 pages, ebook

First published September 12, 2023

About the author

Walter Isaacson, a professor of history at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chair of CNN, and editor of Time. He is the author of 'Leonardo da Vinci; The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made. Visit him at Isaacson.Tulane.edu and on Twitter at @WalterIsaacson

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walter Isaacson really is a fantastic biographer. It also helps that the material he is working with here is fascinating... there's no denying that Elon Musk has had a very interesting life and is himself quite unlike any other human. Though often not in a good way.

We start this book in his childhood in South Africa and follow him through his difficulties with his father, his move to the United States, and several tumultuous businesses and relationships. He certainly did not have his wealth and success handed to him, but earned it through a combination of being brilliant and being an asshole.

Isaacson is neither judgy, nor overly forgiving, and Elon Musk gets portrayed as the volatile idealogue he is. I do believe, after reading this book, that he is genuinely motivated by his own desire to better the planet and humanity, though his definition of bettering is suspect and he is not afraid to trample the little people to achieve his lofty goals. He's a genius, I guess. A savant. And a total dick. Thank goodness I can be fairly sure our paths will never cross.

Edit: After reading some of the comments, I wanted to add one more thing. Despite what some people seem to have assumed, Isaacson is far from uncritical of Musk. This is not propaganda written by a fanboy; Isaacson portrays Musk as chaotic, mean, immature and obsessive. He documents his childish outbursts and what he calls his "demon mode". Having read Isaacson before, I didn't expect any less.

[Coulson Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am the translator of the Chinese edition of this book, and it is expected to be published simultaneously with the English edition. I am fortunate to have finished reading this work before 99.9999% of readers worldwide. I must say that this book is very thorough in its investigation, follow-up interviews, and information comparison, regarding a contemporary technology entrepreneur. Its depth of interviews is unparalleled in most successful entrepreneur biographies. Walter shadowed Elon for a staggering two years, interviewing not only Elon's mother, brother, colleagues, and friends who supported him, but also his father, ex-wife, ex-girlfriend, ex-colleagues, and former business partners who had conflicts, friction, arguments, disputes, and even coups with him. These individuals also agreed to be interviewed by Walter, and the total number of named interviewees reached 126. This is rare even in a single entrepreneur biography. Therefore, what you are about to read is not merely flattering words about Elon, but a more complete and objective account of significant events based on the collision of information from multiple sources. Moreover, Walter claims that Elon did not interfere with the creation of this book.

I believe this is the work that Walter has put the most effort into, possibly even more than his previous book, Steve Jobs. It may also be one of the most important biographies in the Chinese and English publishing world in the years around 2023.
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Updated Sep 12th, 2023.

5 Questions You might want to know about this Musk’s 688-page new biography

Q: How does this Elon Musk compare to the previous Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future?

A: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future was published in 2015 and covers events up to 2014.

This Elon Musk was published in 2023 and covers events up to April 2023.

As it's widely known, the past ten years have been incredibly significant for Elon Musk's business, with many remarkable stories unfolding during this decade.

Let me give you an example. After Steve Jobs passed away, there were rumors that the most likely person to succeed him was Jony Ive, who was the Chief Design Officer at Apple and shared similar design philosophies with Jobs.

Similarly, at Tesla, there's someone who shares Elon Musk's vision, and his name is Franz von Holzhausen. He's the Chief Designer, and most of Tesla's design work happens under his leadership. So, if you find Tesla's industrial design appealing, don't forget this name.

In Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, this important figure appears for the first time after 75% of the book; while in Elon Musk, he first appears at the 30% mark of the book.

So, you can imagine how much more of the story about him and Musk working together to create Tesla products (including Cybertruck and autopilot system) is in the new book.

The early appearance of characters doesn't necessarily mean that the earlier content is superficial, or that Isaacson didn't delve deeply into Musk's early history. In fact, for writing this book, Isaacson interviewed many people, including Musk's former partners who orchestrated an internal coup at PayPal to oust him, as well as his fierce rivals at Tesla, ex-wives and girlfriends he had disputes with. This also includes Jeff Bezos, who competed fiercely with him in the aerospace industry, and Bill Gates, whom he vehemently criticized (Isaacson interviewed two former richest man to write about this richest man... quite impressive).

Previously, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future probably had only a few dozen hours of interviews with Musk himself, although it also interviewed people around him. In contrast, Isaacson shadowed Musk for 2 years, so there's no need to ask about interview duration and frequency. The follow-up interviews mainly took place from 2021 to 2023, up until the final chapter that covers the Starship launch test site, and beyond that, it doesn't touch on recent events like the showdown with Mark Zuckerberg.

Isaacson, to write about one person, managed to interview 126 people. As someone who also writes books, I'm quite envious of Isaacson's firsthand resources.


Q: Which chapters of the book are particularly exciting?

A: Personally, I find the chapters detailing the “surge” of Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity to be the most exciting. As someone who is interested in the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industries, I think Elon Musk's ability to drive cost reduction and efficiency improvement is astonishing. There's hardly another entrepreneur like him anywhere in the world.

Elon's experiences during several critical and challenging periods, such as those in 2008 and 2017, are also quite relatable and gripping.

Additionally, the chapter about Ukraine is particularly astonishing. Just a few days ago, it made headlines in the news carried spoilers from the book. The insider information provided in the book is exclusive and incredibly detailed. We owe Musk a debt of gratitude for helping us avoid a crisis that could have escalated into a major conflict between Russia and Ukraine (a super war), thanks to his timely and correct decisions.

Lastly, for those interested in the Twitter acquisition process, it occupies a significant portion of the final 1/4 of the book. The entire event unfolds in a rather chaotic manner (What a mess!), but Isaacson's narrative clears up the confusion and provides a well-organized account.


Q: What are the limitations of this book?

A: The limitations of the book lie in the fact that you have to rely on your imagination for certain aspects. For example, you'll have to imagine what Elon Musk's father was like or how much his siblings resemble him; these details might be more visually apparent in photos or videos.

I would recommend that everyone watch the documentary series, The Elon Musk Show in 2022. The content of the documentary closely mirrors the content of this book.

There's an old saying in English: "In me the tiger sniffs the rose." The book primarily presents his "tiger" side as he conducts his business activities, while the documentary, through the narration of his former wife Talulah Riley, showcases his "tender" side.

Readers may have a similar experience while reading the book.


Q: What are the differences between Elon Musk and American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer?

A: That’s an odd question. Considering the close proximity of Nolan's new movie release and the publication of Musk's book, both of which are biographies of prominent figures, we may take this opportunity to compare the writing styles of different authors.

Everyone would agree that Nolan is a master of manipulating the timeline of a story. American Prometheus is very much in line with his style of directing. Although the English version is over 700 pages, a little bit thicker than the Musk’s biography, there aren't many long, continuous narratives. Instead, it consists of many fragments interwoven together.

However, one complaint I have is that reading American Prometheus is a much more mentally taxing task than watching the 3-hour movie about Oppenheimer. It's not just because reading a book takes longer than watching a movie, but because the author has provided detailed descriptions of the lives and events of dozens or even hundreds of minor characters like Chevalier, Tatlock, Strauss, etc. When you first read it, you can get lost in the maze of these side stories and struggle to identify which biographical details of these characters are important for understanding Oppenheimer’s life.

Nolan filtered out those things, leaving behind their important intersecting stories, or story fragments strongly connected with Oppenheimer, and cleverly interwine them into a more complete biographical film. If you watch the movie first and then try to find a plot in the book, you'll discover that Nolan has essentially exhausted many of the plot fragments from the book, leaving no additional descriptions.

But Isaacson's Elon Musk is not like this. His descriptions of many story segments are more complete. If a director wants to adapt the biography into a movie in the future, they can almost take shortcuts because many scenes, details, and dialogues can be directly used to create complete story segments. This is thanks to Isaacson's extensive firsthand information resources. I can't help but speculate that, based on the storylines he has revealed, if he were to dig into his database and archives and write an 800-page or 1000-page biography still consistently focused on Musk without any digressions, it wouldn't be too difficult.

Isaacson's introduction of all the minor characters (supporting roles), I believe, is just right. He only introduces the stories that can help us understand Elon Musk. Even though there are hundreds of characters in the book, you won't be confused by these names. To put it bluntly, Isaacson is acutely aware in his writing: they are all "tools" to help us understand Elon.


Q: What is the underlying theme of this book?

A: The underlying theme of this book is that Elon Musk is a great boss but not necessarily a good person – still a little bit different from the theme of Steve Jobs.

The definition of a great boss is someone who can lead a team to achieve exceptional goals and create significant societal value, regardless of the means used to achieve those goals.

The essential characteristic of a good person is having empathy at or above the average level of ordinary people.

Can we expect someone with such remarkable business achievements to also be a universally likable and compassionate individual in their interactions with family, friends, and colleagues? Isaacson tends to believe it's not possible, and I share the same view.

A person's character is a holistic entity, and the aspects of their personality that surface in different social relationships are facets of that whole. We cannot demand that the parts of a person that make them unlikable in their personal life (such as their coldness, ruthlessness, or devilish traits) be completely "formatted" while retaining the aspects that dazzle us, like their impressive business accomplishments. This is something that cannot be achieved.

The above perspective provides a key to understanding Elon Musk as an individual and comprehending the essence of this book.

[Jos]

My hatred for Elon Musk is great, but not greater than my love for gossip

Update 2025: Well we need an updated version because since this dropped Elon has gone even more deranged 💀

[Liong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walter Isaacson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, spent two years shadowing Elon Musk and conducted interviews with hundreds of people who know Musk, including family members, friends, employees, and competitors.

Elon Musk was a bookworm as a child. He read a lot of science fiction books.

He likes to play strategy games such as Civilization, Warcraft, Humans, and Polytopia. I like to play Civilization too. 😉

He is running six companies: Tesla, SpaceX and its Starlink unit, Twitter, The Boring Company, Neuralink and X.AI.

His ambitious plans include colonizing Mars, developing sustainable energy sources, and creating artificial intelligence that will benefit humanity.

Overall, I highly recommend Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson to anyone interested in learning more about this fascinating entrepreneur and his vision for the future.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally I thought I would start this review by saying I wasn’t a huge fan of Elon Musk - not that he’ll lose any sleep over that of course - but that I was interested in reading a biography of one of the most influential people in the world. I was about a third of the way through the book when Musk publicly endorsed a tweet promoting a horrible antisemitic conspiracy theory. He later apologised and said that it was “the dumbest thing he ever posted”. The incident was however typical of Musk’s tendency to blurt out whatever thoughts happen to cross his mind at a particular moment.

One of my reasons for choosing this book was that I had read the author’s biography of Steve Jobs, and had been hugely impressed. The earlier book was though written at the end of Jobs’ life. Musk is aged 52 and shows no signs of slowing down. This book takes us to April 2023, but the subsequent seven months have already provided plenty more material.

Musk’s business achievements have been extraordinary, almost incredible really, especially in respect of Tesla and Space X. Both companies were initially derided as impossible pipe-dreams by “experts”. The book also covers Musk’s takeover of Twitter, and there’s an interesting aside on his provision of Starlink to Ukraine in the early months of the war with Russia, something described as having been of vital importance. He initially refused however, to provide Starlink cover for the Ukrainians to use on offensive operations in Crimea, because he worries that a reconquest of Crimea might trigger a worldwide nuclear conflict.

That fear is characteristic of Musk, who seems to have a preoccupation with threats to the future of humanity. Tesla was created in response to climate change, and as is well-known, his ultimate aim with Space X is to get humanity to Mars, which he sees as a future refuge from an apocalypse on Earth. He has expressed fears about a future demographic crash, and of course about what he sees as the threat from AI. As Isaacson points out, he has “a tendency to want to ride to the rescue”. I’m not knocking that though. Musk has probably done more than any living individual to promote both energy conservation and space travel.

Musk is multi-faceted character. I suppose we all are, but with him everything seems exaggerated. He has incredible vision, self-belief, energy and resilience, and he’s an extreme risk-taker - one might say he is reckless. He also behaves with total callousness to most of those around him, especially in the workplace. It’s typical of him to give his senior executives insane targets and then to fire anyone who doesn’t meet them, or indeed to fire anyone who disagrees with him. He doesn’t care about intimidating or bullying others as long as he drives them to achieve the goals he has set. He argues that a small team of maniacally driven people can achieve more than a much larger number of moderately committed staff. To some extent his arguments have been vindicated by what his companies have achieved, but don’t work for Musk if you value work-life balance.

One of the questions posed in the book is whether it’s possible to have alpha-achievers like Musk (or Steve Jobs) without the unpleasant aspects to their personalities. As Musk famously said of himself “I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you also think I was going to be a chill, normal dude?”

The last part of the book covers the changes in Musk’s political views, from being a Democrat voter concerned about climate change to now having a much more right wing viewpoint. Isaacson highlights that in our hyper-polarised world, views of Musk vary from fanboyish adoration to fevered hostility. Presenting a balanced assessment of such a divisive character is a difficult assignment. I think Isaacson has succeeded.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I begin to add some thoughts about the latest book, Elon Musk, by one of our most renowned biographers, Walter Isaacson, but with his words in the Acknowledgements of his book as follows:

"Elon Musk allowed me to shadow him for two years, invited me to sit in on his meetings, indulged scores of interviews and late-night conversations, provided emails and texts, and encouraged his friends, colleagues, family members, adversaries and ex-wives to talk to me. He did not ask, nor did he, read this book before it was published, and he exercised no control over it."

Having written interesting and riveting biographies of Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Henry Kissinger, Steve Jobs and Jennifer Doudna to name a few, perhaps Walter Isaacson was the perfect person to attempt to write the compelling story of one of our most brilliant innovators and engineers that has transformed the world, particularly in the realm of space exploration, mass production of electric cars designed to combat adverse changes in our earth caused by climate change, and in the field of artificial intelligence. This brilliant man-child, prone to mood changes which would immediately
change the characterization of moment, and described as his demon-mode eruptions that left rubble in its wake. But then Walter Isaacson asks in the last page of this book whether a restrained Musk could accomplish as much as a Musk unbound? Once again, Isaacson's words:

"But would a restrained Musk accomplish as much as a Musk unbound? Is being unfiltered and untethered integral to who he is? Could you get the rockets to orbit or the transition to electric vehicles without accepting all aspects of him, hinged and unhinged? Sometimes great innovators are risk-seeking man-children who resist potty training. They can be reckless, cringeworthy, sometimes even toxic. They can also be crazy. Crazy enough to think they can change the world."

The biography of Elon Musk begins with the prescient words of Steve Jobs: The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. It is apparent in this book that Elon Musk developed a siege mentality that included an attraction for storm and drama. Musk thrived on crises, deadlines, and wild surges of work. I was so struck when Musk was determined that he was going to increase the production of Tesla automobiles and was working intricately with others to change certain design elements that would eliminate slow-downs in the production cycle, often using toy cars to resolve issues in the design. And during this critical time over a three-day period, Elon Musk stayed on the production line catching a few hours sleep on the floor when he could. Needless to say, his wild goal of the production of 5000 Tesla automobiles per week was accomplished. It is that kind of drive that is seen in Musk throughout this book, and he expects no less from those around him.

"He had never been a captain of a sports team or the leader of a gang of friends, and he lacked an instinct for camaraderie. Like Steve Jobs, he genuinely did not care if he offended or intimidated the people he worked with, as long as he drove them to accomplish feats they thought were impossible."

Another big part of Musk's story for me was how he led the world in space exploration. It was 2010 when Barack Obama met Elon Musk at Cape Canaveral to determine what SpaceX was accomplishing in the space program. It was Musk's chance to prove that he wasn't nuts when in June 2010 when the Falcon 9, the first unmanned test voyage was successfully launched into orbit. The launch went perfectly and Elon Musk joined his jubilant team at an all-night party on a Coco Beach pier. Elon Musk called it a "vindication of what the president had proposed. It was also a vindication of Space X." The next big test, scheduled for later in 2010, was to show that Space X could not only launch an unmanned capsule into orbit but also return it to earth safely.

"As awesome as it was, Musk had a sobering realization. The Mercury program had accomplished similar feats fifty years earlier, before either he or Obama had been born. America was just catching up with its older self."

And I'm going to end with the portion of the book when he was nominated by Time magazine as Person of the Year in 2021.

"The magazine's accolade marked a peak in his popularity. In 2021, he became the richest person in the world, SpaceX became the first private company to send a civilian crew into orbit, and Tesla reached a trillion-dollar market value by leading the world's auto industry in a historic shift into the era of electric vehicles. 'Few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth, too,' Time's editor Ed Felsenthal wrote. The 'Financial Times' also named him Person of the Year, stating 'Musk is staking a claim to be the most genuinely innovative entrepreneur of his generation.'"

Addendum: It is now November 17, 2023 and I feel that I must amend my review to reflect the anti-Semitic views that are now being put forward by X and Elon Musk. I am horrified at the hatred and racism that has been espoused on this platform by Elon Musk. And I stand by Israel.

Addendum #2: - February 2025. Oh my, if I could only take back my review. I am totally against the takeover of our government by Elon Musk and his DOGE boys as he slashes vital government programs without being elected or confirmed by Congress. This is not good for democracy. For the love of God . . . .

[Mark Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who immensely enjoyed Walter Isaacson's biographies on Leonardo da Vinci, Jennifer Doudna, Jobs, Kissinger, Franklin, I was eager to dive into his latest work on Elon Musk. Isaacson's capability to produce such in-depth accounts back-to-back, especially in the wake of a global pandemic, is truly commendable. This biography isn't just another account of a tech mogul's journey; it provides an intimate, unfiltered look into the mind of one of the most polarizing figures of our time, even for readers like me who aren't ardent Elon Musk fans.

Isaacson's storytelling prowess shines through as he logically structures the narrative into two distinct yet intertwined facets: an updated account of Musk's life and a close-up look into his daily activities and decision-making processes. The first 60% of the book provides an updated account of Musk's life and accomplishments, seamlessly picking up where Ashlee Vance's book left off. However, it's in the latter 40% where Isaacson truly shines: after following Musk around for two years, he offers readers unprecedented access to Musk's daily life and even his private communications.

Isaacson's fearless approach, evident in his earlier works, is on full display here. The book wasn't vetted by Musk, and it shows. From multiple episodes of Musk yelling at staff to him dismissing loyal employees for seemingly trivial reasons, Isaacson presents a balanced, uncensored portrayal.

One of the most captivating elements of the book is its deep dive into Musk's unique decision-making processes. This resonated strongly with me, as someone who often questions the status quo at work. It's an eye-opening look at the mindset that has disrupted multiple industries.

The biography also dives deep into Musk's more controversial decisions, such as his involvement in geopolitical events like the Ukraine crisis. These insights, much like his previous works, offer readers a nuanced understanding of the complexities involved in such decisions.

Isaacson doesn't shy away from exploring the evolution of Musk's public persona, particularly his transformation on Twitter. It's a fascinating look at how one man can leverage, or mishandle, the power of social media platforms.

While I may not agree with all of Elon Musk's decisions or methods, this biography reaffirms one thing: the man is a genius. Isaacson's ability to dissect complex personalities has never been clearer. After devouring his works on Leonardo da Vinci and The Code Breaker, I can confidently say that this book is a worthy addition to Isaacson's impressive portfolio.

Another must-read from Isaacson, essential for anyone interested in technology, business, and the intricate tapestry of genius.

[Malia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am torn how to rate this book. It's a four star read for writing and research and decidedly less for how much I connected with the subject matter. Musk is an interesting guy, no doubt, in many aspects, he is likely a genius, who has the potential to change the world in profound ways. Yet he has not grasped that with power comes responsibility and that is where the problems arise. I won't go into too much detail, but I will say, that while his impact may be substantial, it is his motivation I found a little frustrating. He is not greedy in the traditional sense. He doesn't seem to do it for the money or to live a lavish lifestyle. He does it because he loves a challenge. My impression was that his desire to solve problems, to expand his reach and improve the world, comes not from a place of compassion and a desire to make the lives of his fellow humans better, but rather from a place of wanting to prove to himself that he can do it, to prove that he is the master of innovation and unafraid of any manner of risk (even if it costs his family or coworkers dearly). Maybe it doesn't matter what his motivation is, as long as the results benefit the world, but as the subject of such a long book, I found it more than a little off-putting. I had hoped to read this and feel as though I could see the more human side of this undoubtedly complex man, however, I find I do not. He seems proud of being unlikable, because he thinks it somehow elevates him above all those who do not understand him, which makes it very difficult to connect with him. Of course, I felt for him and his siblings and mother, when Isaacson detailed his problematic and abusive father or difficult childhood. But empathizing with someone's situation doesn't mean liking them. All in all, I am glad I read it, but I also think you could save yourself a lot of time and read Musk's Wikipedia page to get a similar, if less detailed overview.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents Musk as a difficult genius, basically as a bear who's really a bit of a teddy bear. A lot of his worst moments publicly either aren't mentioned (hyperloop, Haraldur Thorleifsson) or are glossed over super quickly without the worst aspects being addressed. As a result this feels like a really surface level account of Musk's affairs. I don't really feel like I learned a ton. I wish there was way more detail, even if it's the less spicy stuff. Like how on earth does Elon run six businesses at once? Tell me, I want to know. Can I see a schedule? I'm so curious.

This book keeps telling you Musk is a genius, but it doesn't do a lot to prove that's true. He just seems like a geek with fuck you money and a really intense drive to get things done at all costs. And sure, yes, he gets things done no one else ever has, but it seems like it's because he's one of the few people who can. Like I can see that bureaucracy is stupid too, but if I just ignored it because it's dumb I'd go to jail. I'd drown in fines. I'd fail to reach the person who could help me make the red tape disappear. It's not because I'm stupid, I'm just not a billionaire. Recognizing that something is stupid and using your considerable wealth and power to change it doesn't make you a genius. I think the author confuses results with brains. Maybe it would be more accurate to say he's fearless. I wouldn't really argue with that.

I also hate how Elon's ugliest side is framed, by both the author and people close to Elon, as Elon being in "demon mode" as if he's being possessed by someone else. It makes it seem like he's not responsible for his actions, like he's just as much a hostage as the rest of us. As if he's a werewolf and you just have to wait for the full moon to pass. I'm like dude, go to therapy. Do the entirety of humanity a favor and deal with your shit. There's literally no reason not to, you're the richest man on earth and you have ALL THE RESOURCES. Use them. Apply your break things fast mentality to your bullshit. Become the CEO of sanity. Go full Vulcan. Whatever. Just do it. The idea that shitty Elon is necessary to have the Elon who gets things done is pure stupidity. That's just not how it works. Elon wont stop being Elon just because he's less terrible. There's no reason it has to be like this. None.

I don't know. This just felt like a bit too much of a puff piece. Like this book doesn't ignore all the controversy and drama, but it definitely polishes it up quite a bit. (Edit: And it unquestioningly presents Musk as a man who's main drive is to help humanity.) Not that I would expect that anyone hard hitting would be able to get this close so I get why it's so generous, but it feel like a surface level rehashing of what we all already know.

But it was easy to read, and there was some new information in here.

[Sebastian Gebski · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were many reasons NOT to read this book:
1. it's a biography (I don't like biographies)
2. it's not the closed story - Elon is alive & kickin'
3. I've already read one book about him, the one by Ashlee Vance

So why did I bother? The answer is short: Walter Isaacson, 'nuf said.

What kind of book is that? I bet my answer will surprise you: one reads it like a thriller. No, I'm not BSing you - the intensity is immense. There's no farting sweet, no stroking of the heads - the event chases yet another event, there's always some drama, there's always some target ahead & (of course) Elon, multiplying the sense of urgency. I wasn't bored for a single second here. Well, paradoxically, the only part where I was only 95% engaged was the one about the Twitter takeover - as I was already quite familiar with details (that have leaked out online before).

So, what did I like here most?
- Musk's personality is reflected in detail, without sugar-coating, without erecting him a monument; there are shining parts, but there are also gloomy shadows
- many people close to Musk were actually interviewed for this book: they bring in MAAANY details I've seen for the very first time
- I enjoyed reading about EM's interactions with other tech moguls - they bring a lot to the table (even if some of them were already published)
- surprisingly, this book does VERY well when it comes to revealing the reasons behind Musk's success; it not only depicts his "algorithm", but also shows how it's being every day "implemented" in his businesses

What didn't I like? Mostly two things:
1. There's really a lot about the greater good, and grand sense of mission (survival of the human race, bringing in renewable energy sources, etc.) - I'm not really buying that. It sounds like the founder's selling pitch (even to his own people to play with their intrinsic motivations). I have an impression WI fell for that because of not being critical enough / not filtering BS enough.
2. There's one element that is 99% missing here - crypto. It's mentioned once or twice in a critical context ("Elon is not a fan"), but the truth is that Elon has been cynically using his position & popularity to play people off by triggering market trends (yes, I mean dogecoin as well). It creates an impression the book was at least partially censored.

Someone has said recently that this book is very good, not even as Musk's biography, but as a business book. I tend to agree - it shows moves that appear crazy, but there's always something behind them. the algorithm. The specific modus operandi aimed for effectiveness. Some may not like it, some may disagree with it, but facts prove that it has been consistently successful in absolutely bonkers conditions, so ...

Highly recommended. I've enjoyed reading it A LOT.

[Henk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real analysis is sparse in this book, and we get more and more used to almost template like outbursts and behaviour described without really understanding more who Elon Musk really is

Elon Musk himself as a subject and serial entrepreneur is fascinating enough, but I just feel that the book, and Walter Isaacson as an author, describe much too much while eschewing at least attempts to help the reader understand the main subject. You understand the formula (or algorithm in Musk speak) and apparently acceleration always needs to be coupled to insane deadlines and testosterone fueled “feats” which are remarkable not well thought through. There is a constant search for drama and definitely a troubled childhood and a self proclaimed Asperger diagnosis but I felt, even though reading 700 pages that Isaacson could have given more true insight.

Erol, an angry father and a lot of violence in South Africa who has the same birthday as Elon at the start of the book is definitely interesting. The family is fractured and both his mother and father kind of abandon their kids. Videogame addiction and programming in basic come back early on in Elon's life, as do his mood swings. At 18 he immigrates to Canada to pursue a degree, while also obsessively playing Civilisation and asking girls on dates if they think of electric cars.

In the Dot.com bubble his first company is sold for USD 307m to Compaq, leaving Elon with 22 million dollar and a McLaren of 1 million (I bet you have seen this cringe worthy video of the delivery of the supercar before: https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Ds...).

He in general seems to have an aversion against contentment, both in his business and private life. He founds X.com, funded by Sequioa, to set up a financial services firm for the internet age, and as an opening offer to PayPal offers them 10% equity in a merger between the two companies. in the end this multiplies his fortunes with a pay off of USD 250m.

The rest of the book follows the many ventures, including the Boring Company, SpaceX, Tesla (not founded by Elon btw) and off course Twitter/X. There are a lot of inconsistencies in Elon his behaviour and his professed beliefs. Including billions of government contracts and stimulus credits to Tesla and SpaceX. Not to say that the acceleration he achieved based on engineering knowledge and defying the status quo at those companies is not impressive, and exceeds what large established companies could not pull off in their complacent or bureaucratic manner. The focus on holistic, design oriented thinking is fascinating and a good reminder to remain critical on regulation and entrenched status quo impossibilities.

The whole spiral into conspiracy theories and alternative reality building is hardly explored in my view, which is a shame. Many times he comes across as callous and insensitive. Isaacson describes this all, and in a way seems to perpetuate a myth of the "Great Man", that only in such a manner revolutionary progress can be made, which is harmful without further investigation and challenge. Even though he himself is super hardcore and sleeps at the office and stuff, his sacrifices lead to him being a multi billionaire, something his staff can hardly say. Many promises are not met in the end, including the self driving car concept, but the deadlines and goals he set are often so extreme it is a miracle the teams sometimes come close at all.

In the end this book is comparable to Musk himself, full of contrasts and frustratingly hard to really understand. I expected more critical engagement from Isaacson, who not for nothing is one of the worlds most renowned biographers, but learned a lot of the private life that shaped Musk.

Dutch quotes and notes, this was a long book!
Aversie tegen tevredenheid

Storm en drama, drama aantrekken is het thema van zijn leven

Asperger, May zijn moeder die een model en diëtist was

Kinderverwaarlozing vanuit zowel vader en moeder

Videogame addiction en het programmeren van spellen in basic

Enorme veranderlijkheid in stemmingen al als kind

Voor zijn 18e emigreren naar Canada
Civilisation verslaving op de universiteit
Vragen aan een meisje of ze denkt aan elektrische auto’s

Werkte niet graag voor anderen en had geen respect voor managers en geen gevoel dat anderen meer kennis dan hij zou kun hebben

Wist Elon maar een beetje beter hoe hij gelukkig kon zijn

Na 4 jaar zijn eerste bedrijf Zip2 verkocht voor $307m aan Compaq, met Elon zijn opbrengst $22m
McLaren van $1m

X.com, een website gesteund door Sequoia om alle financiële diensten aan te kunnen bieden en een openingsbod van 90%/10% in de fusie met PayPal, waarbij hij zijn huwelijksreis afzegt gedurende die periode
PayPal wat de eerste Catchpa ontwierp

Waarheid verdraaien
$250m opbrengst van de verkoop van PayPal, waar hij ruzie met Peter Thiel en de board krijgt. Hij sterft bijna aan malaria terwijl hij nog een levensverzekering van $100m heeft op naam van PayPal, waar hij een keyman is

Eerste kind overleden aan wiegendood
SpaceX die met gestoorde deadlines en het negeren van voorschriften en vereisten voor prototypes snel raketten kon itereren. NASA aanklagen nadat een contract onderhands gegund was.

Tesla oorspronkelijk niet door Elon opgericht maar $6.4m gefund nadat hij in het prototype, nog op loodzuur batterijen, een ritje gemaakt had.

70% van de eigen onderdelen maken bij SpaceX
Maar dat had geduld vereist, een deugd die hem ontbrak

Het ontwerpen van een auto is makkelijk, de productie is het probleem

3 CEOs van Tesla in één jaar, voordat Elon de CEO wordt

3e lancering in 2008 van SpaceX mislukt, met daarin de as van Scottie en twee satellieten

Paypal founders die in 2008 cruciale funding gaven aan SpaceX

$1.6b contract met NASA na de succesvolle lancering van de vierde Falcon 1

Daimler elektrische Smart lening in 2009 voor $50m equity stake

OpenAI in 2012, and quarrels with Larry Page of Google, including a bidding war for DeepMind. In 2018 Altman and Musk fell out.

Wat is er zo moeilijk te begrijpen aan ik haat dit klote product - over SolarCity zonnedaken/panelen

Het overkoepelend belang van design en holistisch nadenken over geïntegreerde productie om producten continue te verbeteren

The Boring company

Elon Musk die met Amber Heard date na haar break-up van Johnny Depp
Creëeren van een eigen werkelijkheid

Erol die zijn c. 30 jaar jongere stiefdochter bezwangerd

2017: het jaar van de productie hel bij Tesla, met de ingebruikname van de gigafactory en de massaproductie van Model 3. Weg met robots om maximaal efficient te presteren.

Assembleren in een tent op het parkeerterrein van Tesla, om maar de deadline van 5.000 Model 3s te kunnen behalen

Managers moeten 20% van hun tijd in ieder geval operationeel (programmeren, het dak op, aan de assemblagelijn) bezig zijn.

Radicale versimpeling en redesign van producten, met een grote dosis schijt aan vereisten

Elon die foto’s van keizersnede van Grimes aan zijn vrienden stuurt

Allegedly simpeler willen leven en je huizen verkopen als kritiek op Bezos maar wel een huis van 750m2 in Austin van $60m proberen te kopen

Radical process and product redesign, starting from a challenge to all conventional wisdoms and requirements. SpaceX managers inviting Tesla people to get perspectives on how car manufacturing (much lower cost) components could be used in rockets. Use of steel instead of expensive compounds.

Neuralink, creating a direct interface between humans and computers.

Tesla seems like the least innovative of his many companies in a sense, even though it’s the most successful from a traditional perspective

Anti-wokeness by a son going into transition and becoming a communist

2011 to 2021 he tweeted 19.000 times
Addiction to Polytopia
Dependency on Starlink of Ukraine

How does all government support which enabled the business get not mentioned at all?

GigaTexas factory could host 193 million hamsters

Using the private island of Hawaii of Larry Elison of Oracle, who would later invest $1b in buying Twitter

Gaming on Eldenring all night before launching the offer to buy Twitter

Twitter kopen voor $44b als het beheersen van de wereldwijde versie van de speelplaats uit zijn jeugd

SBF offering $5b via Morgan Stanley to invest in Twitter if he would be allowed to perform a blockchain update to the platform

Je kind technomechanicus noemen, roepnaam Tau

Norman Foster inhuren voor het bouwen van een huis in Austin

Waarom bouwt hij geen space elevator? Qua economics moet dat toch nog een veel grotere stap voorwaarts zijn?

Vriendschap met Kanye

Bruiloften tijdens het Cannes filmfestival en vakantiewoningen van miljardairs in Spanje en Mykonos, constante vluchten met privéjets

Snap niet waarom hij niet OnlyFans overgenomen heeft als monetazation key is

Find out who wrote more than 100 lines of code and fire all other Twitter engineers

2.500 engineers bij Twitter, terwijl er bij autopilot van Tesla 150 man werken. Wat leidt tot een verzoek om 90% van het personeel te ontslaan

Neuralink jaagt er ook veel proefdieren doorheen

Granting $700.000 bonus to his nephew for implementing a crazy transport of Twitter servers via a dodgy moving company to a cheaper location during the Christmas break

The Musketeers, all white male engineers who do Elon’s wishes without question and without seemingly keeping to any safety protocols

Fascinating flow of data from Tesla autopilot cameras and the construction of Dojo chips that should rival Nvidia’s offering in AI, but then focused on dimensional processing instead of text driven LLMs

[Ray Faure · Rating 1 out of 5]

On behalf of South Africa I personally apologise for Elon Musk to the world at large.
falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus

[Rick Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s pretty good. I really like Isaacson as a writer, he does a good job of keeping this reasonable. I think the limits of this book are due to the nature of the subject, and the sort of shifting sand on which it was written.

If you cringe at the thought of musk and his hype factory of drama, give it a miss. Seriously don’t put yourself through that. You can get the most salacious bits in one of the many rehashed think pieces that have been emerging.

Speaking to the biography and less to the biographized, overall I found it a mostly well done book. It’s subject is a moving target as musk’s story is not over and as such it’s a challenge to get a whole picture of a complex person. It seems likely, should Musk survive another 20 years, there will be some really surreal moments that will be glaringly missed. But Isaacson does the best with what we have, and the book is not blindly worshiping at the altar of some engineering brainiac, and it’s not a purely critical takedown the worlds richest person. The book ends up somewhere inbetween, which seems reasonable.

What emerges is a portrait of a somewhat broken and flawed man, who works excessively hard, demands a lot of others around him, and has created some really impressive things. Someone who engags in hyperbolic rhetoric at times out of a sort of misplaced immaturity. Someone who struggles with interpersonal relationships and family. Who cares about that same family but is also willing to neglect them to work, sleep, eat and breathe the projects that he wholeheartedly throws himself into.

I wish the book had spent more time on Musks early years, family background, and childhood even. That’s the part that you get from this book I don’t think you get from salacious news articles or other sources. At one point I was 1/2 of the way in and realized were up till like 2019, and so the second half of the book is just the last five years or so. Isaacson chooses to spend a lot of time on sort of the 2019 to 2023 period of time. Disproportionately describing every event that occurred around the acquisition of Twitter, in my thought to the detriment of the book. It’s probably because that’s when Issacson had access to Musk and was able to follow him around. Doesn’t mean I have to love it.

The book also misses a chance to contextualize the fact that many of the decisions musk has made about what he views as “the most important things” have actually imposed a lot of externalities on the world. It’s taken at face value that things like electric vehicles and trying to get to Mars are reasonable. but one of the common threads is that musk is pushing so hard and sacrificing for what he views as the betterment of humanity, it seemed a little absent to not ask the question; is his perception correct? EVs need lithium, lithium mines are atrocious for the environment. What’s up with launching so many rockets when satellites already litter the upper atmosphere. Should we be focused on those domains?

I also think, as with many biographies of living people, it’s challenging to have a portrait of a person without giving time the chance to settle their legacy. And as such, this probably is not the definitive biography. But my takeaways as of September 2023 is that it’s a really good portrait and draws together a lot of very strange and odd threads into a cohesive narrative about what I found to be an interesting person.

[C · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely tedious in my opinion: reads like an overview of the desk calendar of a borderline sociopath. It’s puzzling to me that society gives a pass to a rich man who self-diagnoses himself with Aspergers as a cover for abusive and controlling behavior towards everyone in his orbit. After learning of the deliberate cruelty against the monkeys tortured for Neuralink to test its implants, it’s clear to me that there’s a subset of the population who doesn’t care at all about the ramifications of their self-aggrandizement. Unfortunately too many of them are powerful enough and wealthy enough (or have enough employees to browbeat into utterly appalling behavior. Too bad there’s not a person with massive wealth and political influence who cares about REALLY improving the planet’s health instead of this Mars bull$hit. I wonder if he breeds so much so he can put his kids in his Mars mission vehicles in the future and I wonder how they will feel about that🫥

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://wp.me/p4dW55-1jR

"Elon Musk" is Walter Isaacson's long-anticipated biography of the mercurial entrepreneur behind SpaceX, Tesla and, most recently, the website formerly known as Twitter.  Isaacson is an author, journalist and professor at Tulane University who has written popular biographies of Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci.

Despite my bias against biographies of people whose lives are still unfolding, Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk's life proved irresistibly tempting. I was lured by my experience with two of his previous books, the prospect of gaining insight into Musk's entrepreneurial magic and by the possibility of understanding what makes this volatile visionary tick.

But for all the potential this biography seems to offer - the world's richest man allowed Isaacson to shadow him for more than two years - the 615-page narrative leaves me feeling deeply ambivalent. The fact this is not a "traditional" biography is not surprising. Nor is Isaacson's attraction to a controversial figure like Musk. But the fact this biography often reads like a breezy, over-simplified exposè is decidedly disappointing.

Readers hoping to encounter a dispassionate examination of Musk's strengths and weaknesses will be disappointed. Rather than exploring his subject's most notorious flaws within the context of his trailblazing successes, Isaacson seems to have lost himself in the hyper-reality bubble surrounding Musk. A biographer is normally expected to be an impartial observer reporting history without leaving footprints, but Isaacson's role here seems to have evolved into part-time friend, confidante and therapist.

While guiding the reader through Musk's various achievements, near-misses and interpersonal schisms, Isaacson often refers back to one of his earlier biographical subjects: Steve Jobs. These comparisons, along with accounts of Musk's relationships with Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and other successful entrepreneurs and investors, are quite interesting. But Isaacson avoids the real work of digging deeply to determine whether Musk's frequently callous treatment of people is a requirement for his success...or an unfortunate byproduct of his process for creative disruption.

And while Isaacson diligently documents much of the individual damage resulting from Musk's impetuous behavior, he almost completely ignores alleged larger-scale issues such as an apparent disregard for highway traffic safety laws, widespread allegations of consumer fraud, a tolerance of toxic behavior on his social networking site and a disregard for laws designed to ensure financial market transparency and fairness.

Finally, Isaacson's writing style is unusually informal and lacks an eloquent literary voice. His narrative is essentially a stitched-together collection of reminiscences, clichés and revealing fly-on-the-wall observations which seems to have been designed for fast, effortless consumption by the reader.

But despite its flaws, there is much to enjoy in this dissection of Musks's conspicuously captivating life. Isaacson does a nice job reviewing Musk's troubled childhood, his turbulent relationship with his father (whose own list of foibles is remarkable) and his inability to foster healthy long-term relationships. And the list of people Isaacson managed to interview "on the record" is impressive.

Musk's persistent desire to challenge conventional wisdom in the face of long odds and entrenched interests is a recurring theme and Isaacson never misses an opportunity to demonstrate Musk's intuitive sense for when and where to test boundaries and spark long-needed change. This window into Musk's relentless drive, particularly in the electric vehicle and space industries, may be the most compelling aspect of the book.

In addition, although the narrative proves far too casual and carefree for literary connoisseurs, one of its strengths is undoubtedly its accessibility. No reader will get lost in a maze of confusing engineering syntax, complex financial jargon or tedious corporate history. Isaacson clearly intended this book to provide its audience with an easy, uncluttered reading experience. And one thing is certain: "Elon Musk" is never dull.

Overall, Walter Isaacson's hot-off-the-press biography provides readers with a fast-paced, interesting and marvelously revealing look at Elon Musk - the genius and the jerk. Nevertheless, the book's shortcomings are both conspicuous and unfortunate. And Isaacson's and willingness to rationalize or excuse his subject's most profound flaws limits this book's efficacy as a biography.

Overall rating: 3 stars

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not an objective book and I have read five other biographies by Isaacson that were pretty good. Sure there are numerous and probably accurate examples of Musk acting crazy and his alleged drug use. Musk the outsider, Musk the visionary, Musk the cringeworthy, Musk the victim and even Musk the tyrant. And certainly there is no doubt that Musk had a difficult childhood which definitely made for some interesting reading.

What is absolutely missing from this book is the level of narcissism and stream of lies that come from Musk himself. How can you miss this as a biographer? It's like writing about Trump and missing the extreme narcissism and grandiosity. Isaacson also believes that Musk is an AI visionary. I have worked in AI for a decade. Musk is no visionary in this field, a potential investor yes.

There are plenty of articles, including on the Verge, that address Isaacson's poor sourcing in the book. He often takes Elon's word on topics - see the Ukraine and drone sub controversy. Isaacson has also appeared on tv numerous times defending Musk at every opportunity. He acts like a shill for Musk. But I am not sure why because Musk does not seem to respect Isaacson.

The only other biography/memoir that I have rated this poorly was Bob Dylan's autobiography where Dylan [allegedly] plagiarized numerous passages.
For a better book on Musk, read Zoe Schiffer's book called 'Extreme Hardcore'. Much less of a biography but a much better book on Musk - so far.

1.5 stars. If you must read 'Elon Musk' then maybe check it out from the library and read the chapters about his childhood. Even if the stories are not true, and I am assuming they are true, his childhood is quite revealing.

[JanB · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC

[Sharon L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars. The tedious story of a unchecked egomaniac. Upon completion of this 688-page biography, I am utterly baffled as to how this guy is permitted to be a government contractor—given the highly erratic behavior described within.

Biographer Walter Isaacson worships at the alter of “innovation.” His earlier book on Steve Jobs was far too easy on the mercurial tech giant, and the same tendency is repeated here. Isaacson presents exhausting chapters on SpaceX while barely giving a paragraph to the massive boondoggle that is Musk’s Las Vegas hyperloop. However, even Isaacson, a “hardcore” devotee of the C-suite, has his limits, and a reader can sense the biographer’s growing discomfort.

In sum: this is a dull, overly-long book that fails to ask the hard questions of its subject.

[James Scholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing biography. i wouldnt consider myself a fan of elon, but this biography was way better than the ashlee vance one

[Barb · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a despicable book. It reads like Isaacson got in bed with musk and is now afraid to say anything truthful about him for fear of retribution. The journalism is terrible. How do SpaceX launches affect the environment? What is the environmental footprint of a Tesla car versus other cars? How many kids does he have under NDA? Why did you never use the word “eugenicist”? How’s that philanthropy going? How many women work at x.ai? Why did we have to hear about Mars plans from Bill gates? Isaacson was duped by an antisemitic, racist, sexist man child with zero vision but an insane need to never lose and a willingness to throw his money, friends and loved ones, and sanity in whatever hole increases his chances of winning. Read something else.

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

You're not a truly important person unless Walter Isaacson has written your biography. Perhaps it is that reputation that motivated Elon Musk to give Isaacson permission to shadow his movements for a period from 2021 to 2023—the book was published September 12, 2023. This is late enough to cover the year following the April 2022 Twitter purchase and the April 2023 first Starship flight test.

Thus the book's coverage does not cover Musk's recent phase as political nemesis. However, his DOGE activities did finally prompt me to read this biography in hope of finding some clues as to what sort of personal background and history could motivate such a demolition derby.

The book's coverage begins with Elon's grandfather's birth in Minnesota, his father's birth in Canada, and Elon's birth and young years in South Africa. Elon moved to Canada, went through college, and became an early computer programmer and achieved wealth by selling an early interactive mapping program. He followed that up with an on-line banking program that consolidated with company that became known as PayPal. He was eventually forced to leave that company, but his interests in the company made him rich.

From there one thing led to another—I'm leaving out the details—and he ended up with the following six companies.

Tesla: An electric vehicle and clean energy company.
SpaceX: A space exploration company, focused on reusable rockets and space travel.
X (formerly Twitter): A social media platform.
The Boring Company: A tunneling company focused on creating underground transportation systems.
Neuralink: A company developing brain-computer interfaces.
xAI: A new artificial intelligence company created to compete with OpenAI.

The book's narrative includes information about his personal life and features of his personality that make him the boss from hell. But his projects are exciting and many employees are willing to stay with him and much success has been achieved—mostly in spite of his abrasive management style. The book frequently refers to his "demon mode" when he displays certain manic behaviors.

Both at Tesla and SpaceX his determined drive—with some luck—managed to carry his companies through various financial and performance crises. However, his mind is quick to apply a reality distortion field to business projects leading to needless unrealistic deadlines and shortcuts later shown to be mistakes. He is also quick to respond and say things impulsively leading to public relations nightmares. So far his craziness hasn't destroyed his business interests, but I'm not confident about his future. His craziness may yet be his undoing.

The following are my extrapolations:
There are obvious similarities between what he did with X (formerly Twitter) and what he's doing as special adviser to the President. Seventy-five percent of the employees at X either quit or were fired, and he apparently thinks he can do the same with the federal government. Meanwhile the President and his Party seem to be paralyzed with awe and wonder.

The following link is to a recent The Atlantic article about Musk's use of the drug Ketamine:
What Ketamine Does to the Human Brain

The following is a quote from the above referenced article:

Last year, Musk told CNN’s Don Lemon that he has a ketamine prescription and uses the drug roughly every other week to help with depression symptoms.

[Marialyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 - 5stars

I have found over the years that I can trust Walter Issacson to write books about people that not only reveal the person but also offer an in depth picture of who that person is.

I know I read this book in 2024, before Elon Mush was appointed head of DOGE, but there is no doubt that he is a brilliant, yet enigmatic man. Elon definitely goes to his own drummer, and has proven over the years that he is extremely adept in business and science.

Raised by a single mom, he and his siblings have achieved monumental heights in their endeavors. Whatever she did, she raised her children to be a billionaire and two millionaires. In Elon's case, he has revolutionized the electric car industry, and of course is in pursuit of space in particular Mars. Currently, he is preparing to rescue our astronauts on the space station and bringing them home, plus finding multiple cases of financial abuse in our governmental agencies.

Elon has Aspergers, a form of autism, which makes him different but also exceptional in what he does. Father to thirteen children, he believes children are a blessing and that people should have more babies if they can afford them.

Super impressed with this man, even before Doge, he is one whose clock never seems to turn off, sleeping on the floor with his various projects nursing their success, and hiring people who are as driven as he.

I did so enjoy this story and continue to be fascinated with this man, his passion, his drive, and his devotion to America.

[Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of all of the oligarchs in America, Musk is by far the most terrifying. Musk has become more polarized in the last 3 years because of his cultural and political views. I think those views miss the greater point. This review will not be some sort of partisan hack review of a 'left vs right' paradigm. My main concern with Musk and billionaires in general is they have bought the political system outright and are changing laws to advance economic agendas that are not popular with the American people. We're now living in an era where the former gilded age robber barons would look on in jealously of what America's newest oligarchs have accomplished. It doesn't matter if its a "left" billionaire or a right "billionaire". Billionaires do not have the same interest as 99% of the country. Which brings us to Musk and my thoughts about this book. I will get to the book but first let us discuss how Musk positions himself and what are his core beliefs.

- He is the richest man in the world with infinite resources to carry out his political and economic ambitions which are always aligned.

- He owns one of the largest media platforms in the world where he can silence or empower views that he agrees or disagrees with.

- He uses culture war topics effectively that sow division between the American people as a diversion to push through oligarch policies.

- He has business interests that span across the globe from China to India. Musk's fortune is not solely aligned with the U.S population but spans across the globe. Something that "America First" people tend to forget.

- He is the largest government contractor in America with billions in contracts for his various companies.

- Last but not least, his is a megalomaniac who looks at himself as a messiah like figure in which he believes that he must intervene in order to steer whatever situation as he sees fit. He does this effectively with populist language that makes it appear as his solutions are good for you and me.

There is no denying that Musk's engineering accomplishments are historic but success in business does not give someone the right to interfere in all of our lives from a social and political perspective by using your wealth and power to change the laws as you see fit. This is a major contradiction in how Musk presents himself, he often makes statements like "The people have spoken", when in reality there are no people, it is just his fortune that has spoken.

Take the recent developments of the spending bill being shot down as Musk threatened anyone who voted for it with primary challenges, the bill tanked and now a government shutdown is looming that will impact millions. Put the the contents of the bill aside, is it a democratic society where one unelected person can stop a bill because of their wealth and power? It's also important to ask if Musk cares so much about government spending, how come he did nothing to stop the defense bill? How come that was not an issue for him? Could it be because he holds billions in contracts from the defense industry himself?

Where cutting that bill might impact his bottom line for his business empire? How can someone decry about government spending when that person has also been the beneficiary of government spending? Musk received over 3.5 billion in subsides in the state of California. In 2010 the Department of Energy gave Tesla who was borderline on the verge of faltering a 465 million loan which I agree was the right decision. Tesla paid back the loan with interest but do you see the contradiction? Musk is able to be the richest person in the world because of that loan from the government to keep his business alive. Now, he's using the benefit of that loan to enforce austerity policies for millions of Americans. It doesn't matter if you're a Republican, Democrat or independent there is no denying that he gained from the tax payer. All this populist rhetoric but at the core of all this, he wants his corporate socialism for himself and austerity for the American people.

Not to mention Musk is currently trying to sue the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as unconstitutional because he wants his workers to be unable to unionize. Which makes it harder for them to be able to negotiate healthcare, living wages and better workplace conditions. The richest person in the world is openly trying to crush his workers into subordination and using his wealth and power to do so.


Musk is able to use populist language mixed with culture war topics something that Trump has used to gain power as well. Musk talks about the "woke mind virus" and for people who identify themselves on the right, this language is also used by democrats through identity politics. Both parties need to use these topics as a means to divide and divert you from the economic policies they carry out. Musk thinks DEI and the woke mind virus as the threat to democracy not billionaires like him buying elections. Look at this twitter acquisition, its phrased as trying to restore free speech but in reality Musk has suppressed stories that don't benefit him politically, amplified accounts that represents views he agrees with. The acquisition of twitter is not another billionaire buying a media platform but its Musk "saving free speech". Think about when Bezsos bought the Washington Post, in the election he stopped the Washington Post from endorsing Kamala Harris. He did this not because of a principled stance where news agencies who present themselves as neutral should not endorse either candidate. He did this because the Washington Post means nothing to him in the grand scheme of his fortune and he knows he is up for government contracts that are worth billions. It worked, yesterday he was having dinner with Trump. Billionaires do not have principles, they will abandon any value if their fortune is imperiled in anyway. We should look at Musk the same way where its just another oligarch using his influence to further their own power through a media company which is a story as old as time. Not to mention twitter offers data to throw into his LLM's that is becoming increasingly valuable.

One more example is that in this book, it takes Musk's word that he left Open AI over concerns of it becoming a private company. Reports have come out that state this was false, Musk tried to consolidate the Open AI team into Tesla for his own AI team but the book portrayed Musk as a benevolent tech leader who cares about the threat of AI. A lot of the sourcing for this book captures Musk being an asshole but misses the more important story of his motivations for his views which are self interested.

That is the biggest problem I have with this book, it does portray Musk as an asshole as a means to give the reader the illusion of an objective book but in reality it misses the entire point of how Musk's ambitions create enormous concentrated power and how all of his business and political interests further his power. This book is no doubt interesting, showcasing Musk's life and the companies that he has built. It's entertaining, the picture the author presents almost as that he is an asshole but gets shit done but again misses the larger point that Musk has enormous power over our lives which is unaccountable and undemocratic.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very good biography from Walter Isaacson.

So what is Elon Musk like? A few things stood out.

I was struck by how much of his decision making is based on intuition. His own intuition, without relying on or often even listening to dissenting opinions. That’s not to say his intuitions were without a strong foundation; as it turned out he was usually right. It was just interesting to me how many key decisions, often involving billions of dollars, thousands of workers, or a complete change in strategy, were made quickly and autocratically by Musk. My own experience in corporate America makes it hard for me to imagine decisions being made this quickly. But besides usually being right, Musk has one other characteristic that made this strategy work: when it turns out he is wrong, and is shown strong evidence of this, he is quick to reverse course. He doesn’t usually double-down on bad decisions. He just admits he was wrong and moves on.

Musk would work insanely long hours and would demand his entire team do the same. And they did, often while putting up with verbal abuse and unreasonable demands. Why did this approach work? I think much of it is because Musk sold them on his vision of how important the work was. Musk himself isn’t primarily driven by making money, he’s driven by a desire to quite literally save the world. And he could be persuasive at convincing his team they could do the same. But also, he recruited very driven people who he knew could accept such treatment, paid them handsomely, and didn’t care if they liked him. He was usually able to squeeze everything he could out of his people.

One of Musk’s key philosophies that the book repeatedly hits on is his belief that a small team of insanely driven and smart people would outperform a very large team that wasn’t as driven and talented. Musk was maniacal about cutting staff as much as humanly possible. Twitter’s staff was cut by 75%, and Musk was right that (after some early hurdles) Twitter could be run as effectively with this smaller staff.

Some of the above might be qualities you would expect from a highly successful business titan, but here’s one quality that is less common: his impulsivity. While the quick, autocratic decisions he made were usually after a calculated risk assessment, sometimes they were emotional and impulsive. I’m thinking most specifically of some tweets he sent out that made him look dumb, gullible, and in one case, antisemitic. But also, some of his business decisions were too hasty and emotional. Though as I mentioned, he is usually good at course-correcting before too much damage is done.

The passages about his romantic relationships, his ten children (one of which does not speak to him), and his troubled father were interesting.

Musk is a polarizing figure. If you dislike him because you don’t think he’s actually that smart or talented, I think the book shows why that’s wrong. But if you just don’t find him likeable, the book isn’t going to give you much reason to change your mind. Other than to his children (Some of them anyways. He seems to most favor little X.), there is a lot of insensitivity and immaturity, and there isn’t a lot of warmth.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

When looking for a stellar biography of a person who piques my interest, I turn to Walter Isaacson. Never once have I been disappointed with Isaacson at the helm, as the author ensures each of his books is both highly entertaining and full of educational moments. Such was the case yet again with this biography of Elon Musk, the man who sought to push the limits and strive far beyond the stars so that he might reshape the future and impact the world. Isaacson delves deeply, yet effectively, to show how complex Musk has been and explores many of the choices made by the man whose money speaks and who seeks to make a difference for many. My eyes are open and respect has been gain for Elon Musk, as well as what he’s done for technology!

As a child growing up in South Africa, Elon Musk regularly found himself on the losing end of a bully’s fists. He would often have witty retorts when challenged in the playground and the young Elon refused to stand down, as though it were a badge of honour. Elon may have left blood on the ground and scars on his body, but the true bully in his life awaited him at home, where his father, an engineer and man whose expectations were as high as the heavens, sought to knock him down in the emotions ring.

The impact on this emotional barrage helped shape the man that Elon Musk became. Not only was there an odd emergence of two personalities—playful at times and highly strict in other situations— but also a divorcing from others at times to protect himself. As Isaacson also posits, this was also where Musk’s Aspergers became even more prevalent, a removal from the signs of how others around him would perceive actions. Musk did not let the emotional stunting diminish the fire inside him to make a difference.

Isaacson discusses the tough veneer that Elon Musk developed and how, after leaving South Africa for Canada, Musk became hungry to challenge all that he saw and those around him. No challenge was too monumental and no one could stand in his way, ass long ad Musk saw an issue, the solution was simply one that he had yet to devise.

Isaacson uses much of the novel exploring that various interests of Musk, from rocket development with SpaceX, the creation of a fully electric and self-driving vehicle at Tesla, and many of his other endeavours, eventually including the world of X (Twitter’s newest permutation). At no point was Elon Musk satisfied with what was taking place, he always wanted a little more. There were times when Musk failed absolutely, but he never left it all on the ground and walked away. Instead, he sought to better himself and the issue at hand with repeated redevelopments and ideas to make things even better. As Isaacson describes, this was Musk’s way of striving for perfection and a way to get under the skin of others.

Musk’s personal life was just as topsides-turvy as his business ventures. Musk found himself with a gaggle of children, all through IVF or surrogacy, creating a large entourage that would follow him. While never a hands-on parent, Musk appeared to love his children. This might have been a reaction to the lack of love his father offered him, Isaacson surmises, but there was a definitely disconnect between Musk and the first number of children, to the point that one disowned him for his views on society and political ideology.

Never fully feeling as though he had accomplished much, Elon Musk always sought to define himself as seeking more. He would push for more in all his companies, though it appeared to be less about the spotlight and ore in hopes of pending new doors for the world to experience. Elon Musk continues to push for new and exciting ideas, though some have vilified him as being too concerned with his own image, I was one of those people, but Walter Isaacson helped me see a new and exciting side of to the man whose ideas have helped push society further and to strive for more. Be it a vehicle that could travel on its own across the United States, a rocket that could take people well into the atmosphere, or eve harvesting solar power to make a difference with a carbon footprint, Elon Musk will never be satisfied until it all makes sense and comes together seamlessly.

One cannot call this review complete without touching on Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and turning it into X. Isaacson depicts this thoroughly and with great intrigue through the latter portion of the book. Exploring issues of free speech, how to keep the platform relevant, and showing how Musk sought to make it his own, Isaacson explores the fight to gain control of Twitter and then turning it on its head to ensure that the smooth transition to create a platform for true free speech took front and centre in Musk’s life, adding more fires to his already busy business lifestyle and yet Musk did not blink at making a difference once more.

The stunning depictions in this biography will surely surprise many, though I am quite well-versed when it comes to Walter Isaacson and his writing that it is almost expected. Delving deeply into the life and times of his subject, Isaacson ekes out great stories and anecdotes to fully explain the person on offer, while never being completely satisfied until all the rocks have been turned over and every interview complete. Isaacson develops his story in strong chapters that lead the reader along, though it is impossible to do so in an entirely linear fashion. Rather, Walter Isaacson keeps the reader on a short leash and keeps the story flowing, with new and exciting information at every turn. Another winning biography for Walter Isaacson and yet again I have been shocked to learn so much about a person whose life I knew so minutely. This is definitely a piece well worth my time and effort.

Kudos, Mr. Isaacson, for a great piece of writing that helped me better understand the life and times of a truly complex man.

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Theo Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though it is interesting to learn more about Musk's life and details of how he runs his companies, Isaacson's own input becomes tiring throughout the book. He constantly brings every little event back to his opinion that Musk is a battle commander or addicted to drama. Though it is in part true, it becomes incredibly repetitive by the end of the book and feels fundamentally shallow form of analysis. Disappointing, considering how highly rated his other biographies are.

[Marcus Aurelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be good. Looking forward to it.

Update: it was good.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is well written, but the subject matter reeks of male hormones and ego.

[Elliott · Rating 1 out of 5]

No way in fuck was I gonna pay for this book. At the same time I’m too much of a damned purist that I can’t rightly review a book I did not read- even though, I knew from the moment I saw the cover- knew!- I was going to hate it.
Faced with this conundrum, I did the only sensible thing possible and nicked a copy. So, I’d like to thank Target Asset Protection for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Let’s start off asking the obvious.
Why?
Why do we need a biography of Elon Musk when we have already been collectively bludgeoned with everything there is to know about Elon Musk from his self diagnosis of Asperger’s, to his alleged bullying as a child, to his relationship with his parents (who are themselves both creepy and insufferable in their own right), to his relationships with…ugh…everyone up to and including the woman he showed his dick to, with the $250K and the horse he offered to keep that woman quiet after she spurred said advances…?
I’m led to the the impression that this is all a very deliberate saturation: ‘Listen, we know you’re struggling to put food on the table and probably resent someone who can lose 40 billion dollars and still remain the world’s richest person, but you just haven’t gotten to know him! Once you know him you’ll like him! Maybe you’ll even love him! JK JK…unless…?’ Sure, this a conspiracy theory but every far-right whack job gets to do it (including Elon Musk who endorsed a xenophobic and antisemitic conspiracy theory). Anyway, I want in.
Since 2007-2009 the meritocracy myth has taken a great number of serious blows. Unfortunately, the meritocracy myth is the only thing giving a semblance of legitimacy to the neoliberal dystopia we live in. Therefore, in order to legitimize the meritocracy myth and by default the neoliberal dystopia a shadowy group of journalists, entertainers, and politicians have combined forces to bludgeon society with Elon Musk. Reactionaries can like him because he’s been a consistent bankroller of far-right politics. Radical-centrist hacks can, if not like him, tolerate him because they can justify doing nothing to address income inequality, climate change, racism, and xenophobia by saying that ‘Elon Musk is an immigrant, job creator, who’s investing in “green capitalism” blah blah blah. American Dream!’ You can tie up any criticism by dismissing it as jealousy.
Granted, it’s no “Jewish Space Lasers!” but it’ll do. It’s not really even original. I’m only ripping off Manufacturing Consent and The Power Elite. It’s also well supported here, unintentionally, by Walter Isaacson who is a notorious sycophant of the rich and politically powerful. Isaacson’s put out a series of, turgid, candy-ass profiles of Kissinger, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates so, Elon Musk would be the next logical subject.
In order to meet the myth’s requirements there has to be some schmaltzy “triumph” over adversity solely through talent elevating the subject over the masses. Unfortunately, there isn’t any adversity, there isn’t any talent, but there is a lot of elevating over the masses. This is usually by renaming words and concepts. I’m thinking of primarily what Grimes refers to as “demon mode” which is defined as:

“‘when he goes dark and retreats inside the storm in his brain.’” (310)

You might think that “demon mode” is something beyond anything us plebeians can contemplate but, no. We just call it either “having a temper,” or “being manic.” Similarly, while Grimes claims it helps him “get shit done.” A colleague describes it as “going completely apeshit,” and OSHA describes it as “triple the amount of complaints from the top 10 automakers combined.”
Isaacson attributes Elon’s dismissal of the rules to his maverick approach to business-part of what separates him from everyone else you see. But, Musk breaking the rules doesn’t really affect him. When Musk breaks the rules he pays a comparatively small fine, complains on Twitter about how he has to follow the rules, and then some more bullshit about how much he hates “the woke agenda” or whatever and that’s that.
Granted it’s somewhat beyond the scope of this review but I guess it’s been taken for granted that usually in these stories the dipshit at the heart of it is supposed to personally suffer some consequences of being a maverick- not necessarily other people- but, all Musk suffers is inconvenience. If that.
One of the slimmest portions of the book discusses Musk’s early life and the supposed challenges he faced growing up. You might miss the part where Isaacson mentions that Musk’s father owned his own jet plane which then he sold for a share in an emerald mine and cash belaying Elon’s subsequent claims of a lower middle class life. Elon also received a motorcycle at age 8 after pestering his father for one until the latter gave in.
But all of that pales in comparison to Elon’s greatest trauma.
Per his mother: “‘Once he started going to school, he became so lonely and sad,’ his mother says. ‘Kimbal and Tosca would make friends on the first day and bring them home, but Elon never brought friends home. He wanted to have friends, but he didn’t know how.’” (17) Isaacson also quotes from a 2017 interview where Elon elaborates, “‘When I was a child, there’s one thing I said…I never want to be alone.’” (17) I’m a social person myself and that does legitimately sound bad. However, I never tried Elon’s method. He was unwilling “to suffer politely those he considered fools. He used the word ‘stupid’ often.” (17)
This is the closest we ever get to hearing anyone else’s side of the story yet, I think I see the problem. You have a spoiled (his father bought him a motorcycle at age 8 to get him to shut up) rich kid with what sounds like a helicopter mother at the very least calling his classmates ‘stupid’ all the time and probably quite a bit more. I’m not saying I’m condoning what happened to Elon but reading between the lines it looks like he tried to be the bully and then got his ass handed to him.
Isaacson and Elon have some other explanations. Elon self diagnosed himself with Asperger’s and everyone just accepted that explanation. Isaacson elaborates that “He [Musk] didn’t have the emotional receptors that produce everyday kindness and warmth and a desire to be liked.” (19)
Except people with Asperger’s do have those emotional receptors.
Also, the fuck Elon Musk doesn’t want to be liked.
Remember two pages prior when Elon said he didn’t want to be alone and his mother said he wanted to make friends but didn’t know how?
A more recent book by Ben Mizrich states that Elon Musk getting booed by the crowd at the Dave Chappelle show “nearly broke him.” He’d subsequently tweet:

“Technically, it was 90% cheers & 10% boos (except during quiet periods), but, still, that’s a lot of boos, which is a first for me in real life (frequent on Twitter).”

He then locked himself inside his office almost provoking a wellness check from his employees.
All of this very, very much sounds like a man who has a compulsive desire to be liked. Indeed, a lot of his behavior ONLY makes sense if you view it as a man demanding to be liked.
I think most of us do want to be liked. I get that. But then, this is supposed to be the story of an extraordinary man, with extraordinary problems, and extraordinary hurdles and yet, Elon Musk is a rather banal personality. I went to school with a lot of Elon Musks who played video games, read fantasy and SF, thought robots and rockets were cool, were insufferable and had insufferable parents. Why then is he more deserving than any of the other self righteous, entitled little pricks out there? Again, he really isn’t. But, in order for the whole meritocracy myth to work he has to be made more brilliant than he actually is.
Elon Musk has not invented anything. He started out with a lot of money and now has more money. He has a “vision,” but that ain’t exactly special and what’s more his vision is a pretty cliche one: robots, and rockets.

[Scottsdale Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many, Elon Musk is a man people love to hate but love anyway despite his grating personality. Emerging from a very tough and unusual childhood in South Africa, where he was routinely pummeled at the school his father sent him to get toughened up, he wound up first at university in Toronto, then at Penn in the United States.

But education was not to be his destination. Stanford accepted him for a Masters/PhD track, but he deferred enrollment, hoping to take advantage of the Internet wave breaking across the world. His entrepreneurial spirit won over the academic. He never returned for an advanced degree.

Though he never focused exclusively on money, early in his career he knew he would either be very rich or very poor. His talents and dogged persistence did make him rich. His mission was his enduring goal: to change the direction of humanity by building an electric car that would dramatically reduce emissions and manufacture rockets that would ultimately take humanity to Mars, making humanity a multi-planetary civilization. He thought if humanity remained earthbound, the logical end would be the end of humanity.

The trials and tribulations of his numerous ventures, especially Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter are so fantastic they seem unreal. If there is one billionaire who deserves every dollar he earns, then Musk is that person: sleeping in his factories, working with employees on the factory floor, operating on a schedule that started at sunrise and often ended in the middle of the night. Every task was important and no task, no costs, no part or process escaped his attention.

Driving down costs while improving quality was his indefatigable mission. The man was relentless as he was agitating. His Asperger’s diminished his ability to read people, a huge managerial problem. He tossed employees out of his companies routinely while attracting others who wanted to be a part of his amazing trek.


What may be the best advice for running any organization, derives from his dedication to simplicity. The author outlines Musk’s process for eliminating functionless rules, regulations, and requirements. Musk demands that when finding a requirement that doesn’t seem to fit, find the person that owns it – not a department, not a federal agency, the specific person and find out the reason for the requirement. His summary advice is to delete more requirements than you think is necessary and add any back that were cut but actually really were needed.

Whether you like this man or not, this is a book for all readers. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Musk’s story provides numerous examples of how to operate and how not to operate a startup.

Musk’s personality is much like Steve Jobs’s and Thomas Edison’s: grating and unnerving. Despite these shortcomings, and maybe because of them, they have changed the world, and it is wonderful to have these people on the American team and not our enemies. - Tom L.