
- 688 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Elon Musk
About this book
The #1 New York Times and global bestseller from Walter Isaacson—the acclaimed author of Steve Jobs, Einstein: His Life and World, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo da Vinci—is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating, controversial innovator of modern times. For two years, Isaacson shadowed Elon Musk as he executed his vision for electric vehicles at Tesla, space exploration with SpaceX, the AI revolution, and the takeover of Twitter and its conversion to X. The result is the definitive portrait of the mercurial pioneer that offers clues to his political instincts, future ambitions, and overall worldview.
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 question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?
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 question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?
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Yes, you can access Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Technology & Engineering & Business Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Epigraph
- Prologue: Muse of Fire
- Chapter 1: Adventurers
- Chapter 2: A Mind of His Own: Pretoria, the 1970s
- Chapter 3: Life with Father: Pretoria, the 1980s
- Chapter 4: The Seeker: Pretoria, the 1980s
- Chapter 5: Escape Velocity: Leaving South Africa, 1989
- Chapter 6: Canada: 1989
- Chapter 7: Queen’s: Kingston, Ontario, 1990–1991
- Chapter 8: Penn: Philadelphia, 1992–1994
- Chapter 9: Go West: Silicon Valley, 1994–1995
- Chapter 10: Zip2: Palo Alto, 1995–1999
- Chapter 11: Justine: Palo Alto, the 1990s
- Chapter 12: X.com: Palo Alto, 1999–2000
- Chapter 13: The Coup: PayPal, September 2000
- Chapter 14: Mars: SpaceX, 2001
- Chapter 15: Rocket Man: SpaceX, 2002
- Chapter 16: Fathers and Sons: Los Angeles, 2002
- Chapter 17: Revving Up: SpaceX, 2002
- Chapter 18: Musk’s Rules for Rocket-Building: SpaceX, 2002–2003
- Chapter 19: Mr. Musk Goes to Washington: SpaceX, 2002–2003
- Chapter 20: Founders: Tesla, 2003–2004
- Chapter 21: The Roadster: Tesla, 2004–2006
- Chapter 22: Kwaj: SpaceX, 2005–2006
- Chapter 23: Two Strikes: Kwaj, 2006–2007
- Chapter 24: The SWAT Team: Tesla, 2006–2008
- Chapter 25: Taking the Wheel: Tesla, 2007–2008
- Chapter 26: Divorce: 2008
- Chapter 27: Talulah: 2008
- Chapter 28: Strike Three: Kwaj, August 3, 2008
- Chapter 29: On the Brink: Tesla and SpaceX, 2008
- Chapter 30: The Fourth Launch: Kwaj, August–September 2008
- Chapter 31: Saving Tesla: December 2008
- Chapter 32: The Model S: Tesla, 2009
- Chapter 33: Private Space: SpaceX, 2009–2010
- Chapter 34: Falcon 9 Liftoff: Cape Canaveral, 2010
- Chapter 35: Marrying Talulah: September 2010
- Chapter 36: Manufacturing: Tesla, 2010–2013
- Chapter 37: Musk and Bezos: SpaceX, 2013–2014
- Chapter 38: The Falcon Hears the Falconer: SpaceX, 2014–2015
- Chapter 39: The Talulah Roller Coaster: 2012–2015
- Chapter 40: Artificial Intelligence: OpenAI, 2012–2015
- Chapter 41: The Launch of Autopilot: Tesla, 2014–2016
- Chapter 42: Solar: Tesla Energy, 2004–2016
- Chapter 43: The Boring Company: 2016
- Chapter 44: Rocky Relationships: 2016–2017
- Chapter 45: Descent into the Dark: 2017
- Chapter 46: Fremont Factory Hell: Tesla, 2018
- Chapter 47: Open-Loop Warning: 2018
- Chapter 48: Fallout: 2018
- Chapter 49: Grimes: 2018
- Chapter 50: Shanghai: Tesla, 2015–2019
- Chapter 51: Cybertruck: Tesla, 2018–2019
- Chapter 52: Starlink: SpaceX, 2015–2018
- Chapter 53: Starship: SpaceX, 2018–2019
- Chapter 54: Autonomy Day: Tesla, April 2019
- Chapter 55: Giga Texas: Tesla, 2020–2021
- Chapter 56: Family Life: 2020
- Chapter 57: Full Throttle: SpaceX, 2020
- Chapter 58: Bezos vs. Musk, Round 2: SpaceX, 2021
- Chapter 59: Starship Surge: SpaceX, July 2021
- Chapter 60: Solar Surge: Summer 2021
- Chapter 61: Nights Out: Summer 2021
- Chapter 62: Inspiration4: SpaceX, September 2021
- Chapter 63: Raptor Shake-up: SpaceX, 2021
- Chapter 64: Optimus Is Born: Tesla, August 2021
- Chapter 65: Neuralink: 2017–2020
- Chapter 66: Vision Only: Tesla, January 2021
- Chapter 67: Money: 2021–2022
- Chapter 68: Father of the Year: 2021
- Chapter 69: Politics: 2020–2022
- Chapter 70: Ukraine: 2022
- Chapter 71: Bill Gates: 2022
- Chapter 72: Active Investor: Twitter, January–April 2022
- Chapter 73: “I made an offer”: Twitter, April 2022
- Chapter 74: Hot and Cold: Twitter, April–June 2022
- Chapter 75: Father’s Day: June 2022
- Chapter 76: Starbase Shake-up: SpaceX, 2022
- Chapter 77: Optimus Prime: Tesla, 2021–2022
- Chapter 78: Uncertainty: Twitter, July–September 2022
- Chapter 79: Optimus Unveiled: Tesla, September 2022
- Chapter 80: Robotaxi: Tesla, 2022
- Chapter 81: “Let that sink in”: Twitter, October 26–27, 2022
- Chapter 82: The Takeover: Twitter, Thursday, October 27, 2022
- Chapter 83: The Three Musketeers: Twitter, October 26–30, 2022
- Chapter 84: Content Moderation: Twitter, October 27–30, 2022
- Chapter 85: Halloween: Twitter, October 2022
- Chapter 86: Blue Checks: Twitter, November 2–10, 2022
- Chapter 87: All In: Twitter, November 10–18, 2022
- Chapter 88: Hardcore: Twitter, November 18–30, 2022
- Chapter 89: Miracles: Neuralink, November 2022
- Chapter 90: The Twitter Files: Twitter, December 2022
- Chapter 91: Rabbit Holes: Twitter, December 2022
- Chapter 92: Christmas Capers: December 2022
- Chapter 93: AI for Cars: Tesla, 2022–2023
- Chapter 94: AI for Humans: X.AI, 2023
- Chapter 95: The Starship Launch: SpaceX, April 2023
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Sources
- Notes
- Index
- Photo Credits
- Copyright