Get Your Free Audiobook
Elon Musk
Non-member price: $37.46
Publisher's Summary
South African-born Elon Musk is the renowned entrepreneur and innovator behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. Musk wants to save our planet; he wants to send citizens into space, to form a colony on Mars; he wants to make money while doing these things; and he wants us all to know about it.
He is the real-life inspiration for the Iron Man series of films starring Robert Downey, Jr. The personal tale of Musk's life comes with all the trappings one associates with a great, drama-filled story. He was a freakishly bright kid who was bullied brutally at school and abused by his father. In the midst of these rough conditions and the violence of apartheid South Africa, Musk still thrived academically and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he paid his own way through school by turning his house into a club and throwing massive parties.
He started a pair of huge dot-com successes, including PayPal, which eBay acquired for $1.5 billion in 2002. Musk was forced out as CEO and so began his lost years, in which he decided to go it alone and baffled friends by investing his fortune in rockets and electric cars. Meanwhile Musk's marriage disintegrated as his technological obsessions took over his life...
Elon Musk is the Steve Jobs of the present and the future, and for the past 12 months he has been shadowed by tech reporter Ashlee Vance. Elon Musk is an important, exciting and intelligent account of the real-life Iron Man.
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars3,044
-
4 Stars870
-
3 Stars125
-
2 Stars25
-
1 Stars12
Performance
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars2,533
-
4 Stars821
-
3 Stars171
-
2 Stars31
-
1 Stars12
Story
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars2,674
-
4 Stars728
-
3 Stars130
-
2 Stars22
-
1 Stars12
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall2 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 17-06-2016
An underwhelming narrative of a really cool guy
This book is a bit of a let-down. You will learn a bit about Elon and his companies, but it will sap 13 hours of your life away and you won't be a better person for it.
You'd think there's so much you can learn from Elon Musk, but this author didn't really make much effort to gather any nuggets of insightful information, just snippets of hearsay from sources that have worked around Elon. Listening to the book feels kind of perverted because it's written in a way where the author digs up lots of dirt on him the way a trash magazine reports on the secret lives of celebrities.
The Author even gloats mildly about his tenacity in pestering Musk until he agreed to let him write the book.
Don't bother listening to this one.
64 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mikhail
- 17-06-2016
Fascinating story of an exceptional man
Things I liked:
1. Elon Musk's story is nothing like you have ever heard, even if you have studied the greatest men and women to grace this planet.
2. His big picture thinking and pursuit of ideals, never backing down until those ideals are achieved is grandiose.
3. The idea that a man like this is alive at this present moment gives me the extra motivation to work hard on my purpose and perhaps come across Elon one day.
4. Both the writing by Ashlee Vance and reading by Fred Sanders is fantastic. The story flows very well and I will undoubtedly be listening to this again.
Things I disliked:
1. I wish there was more.
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rufus Keown
- 31-05-2017
A really good read (listen)
Really enjoyed musks story of obsession and his drive to make the world a better place. Highly recommended for those who believe in a bright future.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 21-05-2016
Loved it
Great story well told, if slightly biased towards the end. He is an amazing and terrifying man.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- MKG
- 07-05-2016
Best Biography Ever!
Simply the most impressive and exciting true story about a person's life that I've ever known.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Thomas
- 05-08-2019
Great book
Couldn’t put this book down, Elon is a super interesting bloke. Made my top 15 list
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 31-07-2017
Changing force
Musk has ambitions that are so magnetic that it makes you want to change the world too.
He really is shaping the future, Ashlee Vance does an outstanding job presenting this.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- benedict
- 20-05-2016
such an amazing story.
Extreme management and perseverance to achieve what he does, inevitably burning people on the way. His arrogance and dictator style leadership means he achieves the impossible. Lucky he has an underlying altruistic vision of solutions for humananity which drives him.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brian
- 11-07-2016
Brilliant book
An amazing story of a truly remarkable and resilient man. Vance captures Musk's personality, both good and bad points, and digs deep into his success and failures.
Very well narrated.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bartoooo
- 15-02-2020
I loved this book
I actually shorted Tesla on my superfund and lost $7000 which for me was alot of money. I thought I'd better do some more research, this book was part of that. When I heard what Elon Musk had been through to keep his companies afloat in Tesla and Space X through the toughest of times, I found him to be a complete inspiration. He has his flaws, for sure, but I found this story compelling listening.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- innovate risk
- 26-10-2017
Fascinating insight
This is an excellent audio book onto the insights of Elon Musk. In particular the first half provides a brilliant view of his background, his leadership style and the type of personality that drives such an interesting person.
I did find the second half of the book a bit too much about the industry of space exploration, electric cars and solar power. This meant you were losing the insights into the person, and it became a more technical book on the industry.
Overall a great read but perhaps this should have been 2 books - one about the person and one about the industries.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alison Cope
- 13-08-2017
Fascinating
I found Elon's story really fascinating but I would have liked to hear more from Elon himself.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 13-06-2018
Excellent Book
Loved the book and the narrator was really good. Easy to listen to. Put the book on everyday while working.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fabrice Kabongo
- 12-06-2016
Very inspiring!
when you listen to this book, you know your dream of changing the world can be achieved
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Jp
- 24-01-2020
Elon Musk is fascinating
This was a very interesting and compelling read. I honestly think that out of all of the inspirational leaders, he is someone you can really look up to. He has his flaws, his own demons. He is a jackass.. but he is also an incredibly high output individual. A very brilliant inventor and an innovator to know about.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Raymond Loh
- 02-01-2020
This is the best book I read by far.
My work obligates me to discipline myself to read vastly; to harness wisdom and courage from those who have made great contributions to mankind or entrepreneurs who changed the world or ppl who have gone thru life changing experiences.
These are some of the books that I read in 2019
1) Shonda Rhimes ( Producer of Grey's Anatomy)
2) 3 different books about 马云 ( Alibaba)
3) Steve Jobs (Apple )
4) Steve Jobs ( Pixar)
5) When breath Becomes Air
6) The Last Lecture
7) The Monk who sold his Ferrari
8) 2 different books about Jim Roger
9) Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
10) 蔡康永 （ Art of Speaking)
11) 李嘉诚 ( Philosophy of life )
12) Lee Kwan Yew ( 新加坡国父）
I recently finished a book about Elon Musk and I must say, this is the greatest book I read so far.
Many of us associated Elon Musk with Tesla. Some of us may know he has another company, SpaceX, which aims to colonize MARs. Not many of us know that he created Paypal and ZIP2.
Now, he started another company, SolarCity, to provide alternative energy.
How many things can one accomplish in one lifetime?
The persecution and tribulation that he went thru is unthinkable. This book clearly depict how close he came to closing down SpaceX and Tesla if not of his courage and determination.
I learned so much from this book and it motivated me to kickstart a project that I have been procrastinating for some time.
Thank you for this wonderful experience and adventure.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dr. Muddassir Ahmed
- 17-12-2019
Written by Elon Musk Fan
Edit by Elon Musk! Very one sided 🤔. Would be good if they write about how Elon Musk goes about his business
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-11-2019
Inspiring, enlightening... beyond words.
I got stuck from the very first second. The author has done a very fantastic job in this book. the story is balanced in every ramification.
I loved every bit of this book.
The narration is very well done too.
I definitely recommend this book to every forward thinking person, especially engineers and tech enthusiasts.
Elon Musk is a superhuman and this is a superbook.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- James B. Preston
- 08-10-2019
Masterful journalism coupled with masterful performance
A more perfect inspirational audiobook you’d likely not come across. Fred Sanders’ performance along with his excellent take on Elon’s lingering South African accent is only surpassed by the work of Ashlee Vance that went into compiling the book.
This book will inspire you that there is a human on this planet living today that genuinely believes a better future is indeed possible, but only if we work our asses right off. And he is the one working the most.
It is phenomenal that Elon’s story is true.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- storageadmn
- 06-10-2019
<br />Good place to learn and get inspired bygreat Elon
Good place to learn and get inspired bygreat Elon,Good place to learn and get inspired bygreat Elon
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Andrew
- 15-01-2017
Fascinating insight but a little repetitive
Well written book with a good relatively independent view of the history of Musks companies. Issue is repetitive nature of second half of the book- lots of the same principles come up time and again without really developing much further insight into the direction or the individual.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Arvin Seeva
- 26-12-2016
An eye opening insight into the future.
A recommended biography of a person that sounds like a slave driver, but driven by passion for a better future and humanity.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- John
- 20-12-2016
The power of personality
If you could sum up Elon Musk in three words, what would they be?
insightful, enjoyable, entertaining
What did you like best about this story?
Musk is just a balls out force of will.
What about Fred Sanders’s performance did you like?
He is a solid performer and made the autobiography experience enjoyable.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Robert
- 13-12-2016
Too much rambling
There are very good parts in this book about Elon Musk's career but there is a lot of filler by talking about how his companies do better than the competition by doing this or other design choices. Most of them are subjective opinions of the author or the people interviewed and are not measurable facts. Also all of his childhood living with his father is missing yet they keep alluding to it later on as a key point in his life. I feel I learned something from Elon as an entrepeneur in spite of the filler of this book though so not all was lost.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Beshr
- 03-12-2016
Well-rounded great book
Really deserves all 5 stars. Most importantly is the fact that a lot of lessons can be distilled from this book, which is much more important than "performance" or "story". Highly recommended.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- MJK
- 01-10-2016
Great insight into Musk's worldview
Really enjoyed this background on the vision and drive of Elon Musk. Puts a lot of things in perspective and tells an amazing story. Well worth a listen.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- dragos sucea
- 10-09-2016
Amazing
Very good book, highly recommended. It shows what it really takes to be successful if you translate it to whatever it is you would like to do
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. Tyler
- 17-01-2017
Very good
Good narrator, great insight into Elon Musk and overall a very good book. Incredibly interesting!!!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ahmed K
- 17-01-2017
Extremely interesting and eye opening biography!
Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. Gets really deep into what makes Musk and his companies what they are now. More than just a way to learn more about Musk, it shows some of what's necessary to accomplish such successes.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ed R
- 05-01-2017
Inspirational story
Being an engineer myself I found learning about Musk's approach and achievements fascinating and inspiring. Would highly recommend for anyone interested in technology or business.
2 people found this helpful