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Elon Musk
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Walter Isaacson
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
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Elon Musk
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Publisher's Summary
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.
Australian Financial Review Top 20 Read for 2023
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?
Critic Reviews
"One of the greatest biographers in America has written a massive book about the richest man in the world. This fast-paced biography, based on more than a hundred interviews ... [is] a head-spinning tale about a vain, brilliant, sometimes cruel figure whose ambitions are actively shaping the future of human life." (Ron Charles on CBS Sunday Morning)
What listeners say about Elon Musk
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jeff Northam
- 20-09-2023
Damn way more open and real than I expected
I am a massive, self-confessed Elon fandoy, and to some extend, I expected the author to take a someone fanboy outlook of this boy.
wow, was I wrong, this book also shows multiple perspectives of those around the billionaire who are trying to navigate, moods, wings, and demon mode..
I am still a massive fan of Elon, and what he has achieved for this planet, but also see there is much, much more to him now.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Benjamin Lovett
- 20-09-2023
Peeling the onion on the most interesting person alive
Walter Isaacson is a unbiased and detailed writer who did another great job on the book.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Danny P.
- 14-09-2023
Smarter and harder worker than anyone else but a tortured soul
Great read about such a different human. Love that the book shows all the bad and all the good.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Grape Escape
- 22-09-2023
Epic
Another fantastic biography from Walter Isaacson only took me 4 days to get through it
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Debbie Foster
- 14-11-2023
Despot Maniac or Inspired Futurist?
Unless you’ve heard the story, you won’t be able to answer this question.
This is a long but detailed look into Elon, his personality and what makes him tick.
Well written with excellent narration to keep you interested even when the subject matter became a little overwhelming at times.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- TracyR
- 18-11-2023
Too long even on double speed
Appreciate this is a biography but could have been half the length and still expressed who Elon is. It did give me an appreciation that the world does need people who value a mission higher than anything else, they are the ones that drive evolution.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hawk!
- 22-11-2023
Great insight into Elon’s mind
Wow… I listened to this one with a deep interest in how he has turned Tesla over to a very profitable car manufacturer. But I mesmerised knowing he has done it in Space X and other companies.
Like to know more about Omead Afshar (seems to be his right hand to get things done).
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- bman
- 28-10-2023
Excellent
Enjoyed it thoroughly. It moves with a great pace.
You don’t have to be fan to appreciate this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 31-10-2023
Brilliant mind.
A brilliant insight into the life & mind (warts & all) of one of the most amazing complex intelligent human beings of our times. Now I have huge respect for Elon Musk & understand a little of why he is who he is…..brilliant, emotionally fragile, loving father and sooo much more. Well done Mr Isaacson for this insight.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tom Wright
- 05-11-2023
Another great biography by Isaacson
Liked learning about Elon's missions, successes and failures, the measures of success he uses to motivate teams (eg idiot score), how he handles risk and tense moments, the algorithm and the 'hardcore' approach to getting things done quickly.
Also liked that the author spent significant time with Elon and people close to him to piece together events, validate them and give a balanced view, similar to the Steve Jobs biography by the same author - this is another home run, 5 stars.
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