Elon Musk

  • Author: Walter Isaacson
  • Narrator: Jeremy Bobb
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Duration: 20:26:25
preview

Synopsis

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 question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?

Chapters

  • 081 ElonMusk Chapter78 Uncertainty

    Duration: 13min
  • 082 ElonMusk Chapter79 OptimusUnveiled

    Duration: 10min
  • 083 ElonMusk Chapter80 Robotaxi

    Duration: 09min
  • 084 ElonMusk Chapter81 LetThatSinkIn

    Duration: 10min
  • 085 ElonMusk Chapter82 TheTakeover

    Duration: 06min
  • 086 ElonMusk Chapter83 TheThreeMusketeers

    Duration: 17min
  • 087 ElonMusk Chapter84 ContentModeration

    Duration: 20min
  • 088 ElonMusk Chapter85 Halloween

    Duration: 07min
  • 089 ElonMusk Chapter86 BlueChecks

    Duration: 20min
  • 090 ElonMusk Chapter87 AllIn

    Duration: 13min
  • 091 ElonMusk Chapter88 Hardcore

    Duration: 16min
  • 092 ElonMusk Chapter89 Miracles

    Duration: 07min
  • 093 ElonMusk Chapter90 TheTwitterFiles

    Duration: 19min
  • 094 ElonMusk Chapter91 RabbitHoles

    Duration: 16min
  • 095 ElonMusk Chapter92 Christmas

    Duration: 23min
  • 096 ElonMusk Chapter93 ALForCars

    Duration: 14min
  • 097 ElonMusk Chapter94 AIForHumans

    Duration: 17min
  • 098 ElonMusk Chapter95 TheStarshipLaunch

    Duration: 18min
  • 099 ElonMusk Credits

    Duration: 01min
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