Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

English language

Published Sept. 5, 2015 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:
978-0-06-230126-0
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(15 reviews)

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius's life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and flight to the United States to his dramatic technical innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits. Vance uses Musk's story to explore one of the pressing questions of our age: can the nation of inventors and creators who led the modern world for a century still compete in an age of fierce global competition? He argues that Musk is an amalgam of legendary inventors and industrialists including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs. More than any other entrepreneur today, Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far-reaching as the visionaries of the golden age of …

11 editions

didn't age well, and it's not that old

I read this several years ago so my memory is a bit hazy but I recall thinking it was generally worshipful and a bit of a hagiography (it predates the first Trump presidency but in recent interviews the author, who has a fascination with space moguls, still talks about Musk like he's Steve Jobs). Nevertheless, it's a comprehensive bio up to that point so now when I hear a reference to an ex-wife, for example, or disputes about who actually founded Tesla, I already know the deal. So it's worth reading for background, but I am perhaps unreasonably going to hold it against the author for not warning us we have a billionaire white nationalist on our hands (an issue the author has avoided touching on in all his nterviews about Musk that I've seen, so maybe not that unreasonable).

Review of 'Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future' on 'Goodreads'

Fascinating guy, well-written bio. Sometimes reads a little worshipful with obligatory bad character bits included and explained away in the same breath. I think I feel the same way as Ashlee Vance - I don't want to work for the guy (but I'm sure he doesn't want me working for him either); and I so dearly want him to succeed in all of his endeavors that I'm willing to forgive a lot.

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Subjects

  • Businesspeople, biography
  • Aerospace industries
  • Automobiles, electric
  • Inventors
  • Technological innovations, economic aspects