"One of America's foremost biographers has written a monumental book about the world's richest man. Drawing on more than a hundred interviews, this fast-paced biography is . . . a dizzying tale of a haughty, brilliant, and sometimes ruthless figure whose ambitions effectively shaped the future of human life."
—Ron Charles, CBS Sunday Morning
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs: the surprisingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our time, a relentless visionary who helped lead the world into the age of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk was routinely bullied as a child in South Africa. One day, a group pushed him down a concrete step and kicked him until his face was unrecognizable. Elon spent a week in the hospital. But these physical wounds were minor compared to the emotional wounds inflicted by his father, an engineer, drifter, and charismatic dreamer.
His father's influence on the spirit world would last a long time. He was shaped into a tough but vulnerable boy, prone to sudden Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde mood swings, with an extremely high tolerance for risk, a desire for dramatic situations, an heroic sense of duty, and a frenzied, sometimes destructive tension.
At the beginning of 2022—after a year in which SpaceX successfully launched 31 rockets, Tesla sold nearly a million cars, and he became the richest man in the world—Musk spoke with regret about his urge to escalate the dramatic. “I need to get out of a state of crisis, mentally,” he said. “I’ve been in this state for about 14 years, maybe most of my life.”
It wasn’t a New Year’s resolution, but a somber comment. Even as he made the statement, he was secretly buying shares of Twitter (now X), which he viewed as the world’s largest playground. For years, whenever he felt like he was in a difficult situation, it took him back to the days when he was bullied on the playground. Now he had a chance to own that playground.
Isaacson shadowed Musk for two years, attending his meetings, walking him around his factories, and interviewing him for hours, his family, friends, colleagues, and competitors. The result is a revealing backstory filled with surprising stories of triumph and turmoil that begs the question: Are the demons that drive Musk also the ones needed to drive innovation and progress?
“Whatever you think of Mr. Musk, he is a man worth understanding, which makes this book worth reading.”
—The Economist
“Walter Isaacson offers both a riveting chronicle of his hero’s fast-paced life to date and some intriguing answers to the...”
—Wall Street Journal
“A comprehensive study by an experienced biographer.”
—The Observer
“Walter Isaacson’s exhaustive biography… A fascinating portrait of the technological maverick.”
—The Telegraph
—Ron Charles, CBS Sunday Morning
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs: the surprisingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our time, a relentless visionary who helped lead the world into the age of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk was routinely bullied as a child in South Africa. One day, a group pushed him down a concrete step and kicked him until his face was unrecognizable. Elon spent a week in the hospital. But these physical wounds were minor compared to the emotional wounds inflicted by his father, an engineer, drifter, and charismatic dreamer.
His father's influence on the spirit world would last a long time. He was shaped into a tough but vulnerable boy, prone to sudden Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde mood swings, with an extremely high tolerance for risk, a desire for dramatic situations, an heroic sense of duty, and a frenzied, sometimes destructive tension.
At the beginning of 2022—after a year in which SpaceX successfully launched 31 rockets, Tesla sold nearly a million cars, and he became the richest man in the world—Musk spoke with regret about his urge to escalate the dramatic. “I need to get out of a state of crisis, mentally,” he said. “I’ve been in this state for about 14 years, maybe most of my life.”
It wasn’t a New Year’s resolution, but a somber comment. Even as he made the statement, he was secretly buying shares of Twitter (now X), which he viewed as the world’s largest playground. For years, whenever he felt like he was in a difficult situation, it took him back to the days when he was bullied on the playground. Now he had a chance to own that playground.
Isaacson shadowed Musk for two years, attending his meetings, walking him around his factories, and interviewing him for hours, his family, friends, colleagues, and competitors. The result is a revealing backstory filled with surprising stories of triumph and turmoil that begs the question: Are the demons that drive Musk also the ones needed to drive innovation and progress?
“Whatever you think of Mr. Musk, he is a man worth understanding, which makes this book worth reading.”
—The Economist
“Walter Isaacson offers both a riveting chronicle of his hero’s fast-paced life to date and some intriguing answers to the...”
—Wall Street Journal
“A comprehensive study by an experienced biographer.”
—The Observer
“Walter Isaacson’s exhaustive biography… A fascinating portrait of the technological maverick.”
—The Telegraph
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