Elon Musk
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Elon Musk
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Narrated by:
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Jeremy Bobb
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Walter Isaacson
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By:
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Walter Isaacson
About this listen
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
- Anonymous User
- 20-09-2023
An insightful look into history in the making
Thoroughly enjoyable and well written. A timely insight into our rapidly changing times and a candid and remarkably personal view of Elon's genius, shortcomings and incredible drive.
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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
- Anonymous User
- 19-09-2023
X
I’m convinced now, he is a alien 😀. X x x x x x x X
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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
- mazen kasser
- 16-01-2024
Inspiring read
I love Elon's work. It's by far the best humanity ever experienced! Looking forward to the future to see what is next.
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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
- 19-12-2023
The detailed reflections and recordings of subtle nuances.
I’m not usually interested in biographies because there are way too many opportunities for the author to confabulate. Even if this book was found not to be 100% accurate, it has made more interested in learning more about EM and his pursuits on behalf of humanity.
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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
- Paul Goldston
- 15-01-2024
A new perspective on Elon Musk
Super illuminating. Absolutely worth the listen. At the very least, you’ll be able to form your own perspective and sound smart at dinner parties!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 24-01-2024
complexity of Musk
I learned heaps about Musk and what drives him both positively and negatively. I found it result interesting but also too long.
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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
- 28-01-2024
story line/time line order
Best bio I've listened to/read yet. ordered the hard copy and listening to a second time
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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
- 27-09-2023
Couldn’t stop listening
My only critique would be the ‘conspiracy’ label used by the author. Isaac would typically provides his own commentary after when using this label, written as if he knows the truth and Musk just bought into a loony tunes idea (sometime true). I loved the story, the writing the everything - but I found myself somewhat cringing when Isaac would do this. Overall a phenomenal work - and a motivator fo me.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Simon J Firth
- 01-10-2023
Fantastic
What a story! Go Elon, take us to Mars and beyond and beyond and beyond!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- joe xuereb
- 18-10-2023
The man with the vision into the future
A amazing man can’t wait for the movie if it is like the book it will be amazing.
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