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Elon Musk

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Elon Musk

Written by: Walter Isaacson
Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
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About this listen

The #1 New York Times bestseller from the author of Steve Jobs—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 question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?

©2023 Walter Isaacson (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio
History & Culture Professionals & Academics Business Inspiring Thought-Provoking Transportation
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What listeners say about Elon Musk

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Great work!

I specifically enjoyed the epic storytelling of the author and the overall performance of the voice actor

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Lecture Passionnante

Excellente biographie. Vivant, bien documenté, sujet interessant. Je recommande cette lecture à n’importe qui sans hésitation.

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JUST AMAZING!

I ripped through this in 3 days! Absolutely loved every minute of it!! I enjoyed re-remembering the early days....

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Love/Hate him, amazing read with lots to learn and reflect

Recommend this as a great source of knowledge, wisdom and even guidance on what to do and not.to do.

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Great account of a once in a generation visionary

Well written and researched. Isaacson does a great job in weaving a complex story of a individual involved in multiple companies and missions and gives depth to the supporting cast which further provides insight into Elon Musk.

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Very good surpise

It looks like Isaac found a nice receipt for biography - like Jobs, I loved the pace and storyline.

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Elon is amazing

What An amazing story about the most amazing guy. There isn’t a thing Elon can’t do.

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WOW!

The only thing I have to say is that we are so lucky to live in an era where Elon Musk live as well!

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This book is a must-read

The best-written biography of one of the most important people in generations. It is imperative that we understand and appreciate his contributions as well as his dark side and how both came to be, and what drives both sides.

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Amazing

An amazing story about an amazing man. Well read. Highly recommend it to any fan of brilliant people.

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