Oh, did I mention he is downright misogynistic as well? He basically said all smart women must breed and he’s the alpha in his marriage. Now coming to the book, It’s a very insightful account on a man who wants to reach the stars (well, Mars) and save humanity from extinction and global warming, yet often falls short from showing a modicum of kindness toward his employees and prone to going ballistic over typos in emails and abbreviations. Despite any character flaws (and the book points out many), it’s real hard not to respect the guy. I’ve long been a fan of Musk his name comes up quite a bit in my geeky circle and is always spoken with reverence: from Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal, Solar City, The Boring Company… this is a techno-utopian fellow who wants to affect real change in the world. (And it stung even more because I’m a marketer.) Where have we gone wrong as a generation? Where is the passion and quest for knowledge? What is the real purpose of innovation? To improve mankind or to become wealthy? Can we have both? “If the rules are such that you can’t make progress, then you have to fight the rules.” Ironically, one of the quotes that made the biggest impression on me in Elon Musk: Inventing the Future didn’t come from Musk, but from data scientist Jeffrey Hammerbacher: “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.”

The book ‘Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and TESLA is Shaping Our Future’ is a brilliant and intelligent account of this genius young ‘iron man’ told in a gripping manner. Getting sacked as the CEO, Musk did not cease to amaze friend and foes alike with his out of the box ideas, like investing in rockets! Needless to say, this deconstructed obsession with technology had his marital life go haywire. I’d rather play video games, write software, and read books than try and get an A if there’s no point in getting an A.” One of the successful companies that he co-founded was the online payment gateway PayPal that was later acquired by e-Bay in 2002.

Ashlee Vance’s brilliant description of Musk’s character, simple language and neat choice of words indeed makes this book a great read.Ĭonsidered by some as the innovation, entrepreneurial Steve Jobs of the present and future, Elon Musk became a billionaire early in life with his successful online ventures. The real-life inspiration of the Iron Man Series, Musk wants to be the saviour of the planet, send people into space and set up a colony on Mars.īullied in school and scolded tremendously by his father, Musk was actually a brilliant student and his life story is nothing less than a drama packed film.

The book captures the life and achievements of South African interpreter and innovator, Elon Musk, the brain behind series of successful enterprises such as PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX and Solarcity. Title: Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of Spacex and Tesla is Shaping Our Future

Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance