Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Elon Musk
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 20 hrs and 27 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Elon Musk
Buy Now for £14.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
Epic feats. Epic failures. An epic story.
Walter Isaacson charts Elon Musk’s journey from humble beginnings to one of the wealthiest people on the planet – but is Musk a genius or a jerk?
From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of Elon Musk, 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.
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 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, Walter Isaacson had unprecedented access. He 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?
More from the same
Author
What listeners say about Elon Musk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter Tattersall
- 28-10-23
Truthful, disturbing and inspiring
An excellent book about two or more Elons’. I am in awe of genius Elon, sad for little Elon who suffered a violent childhood, and frustrated by cruel and self sabotaging Elon. Fuel for both his fans and critics alike are provided in generous quantities here. I greatly admire Elon for his sustainability mission, but I wouldn’t want to work for him. Highly recommended book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Heather Wight
- 02-10-23
What a man!
Well I now know quite a lot about Elon Musk having listened for 22 hours. I first became intrigued by him when I watch a documentary The Elon Musk Show. Words to describe him: ruthless, brilliant, impatient, fearless, unfathomable, impulsive, charismatic, crazy and a genius of our time.
Well narrated book I loved the first 2 thirds found the latter less so.
Best sections are about SpaceX and Tesla.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel Bryant
- 22-09-23
A fascinating insight into a very complex person!
I wouldn't consider myself an Elon Musk fanboy by any stretch of the imagination, but I do respect his contributions to society. Figuring that he's going to have an outsized impact on our future in general (and my future in particular, as I work in tech), I was keen to learn the story behind the man.
Isaacson, yet again, did not disappoint. The narrative is well crafted and flowing, and I learned things I didn't expect, both about Elon and other topics.
As with any bio, some of the details may get updated over time (there's already changes in the public domain regarding Starlink and Crimea), but the picture presented feels balanced. Elon appears to be a complex person (who knew!!), but this is core to the source of his accomplishments.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- JUNIO
- 23-09-23
Insightful, for all, useful for all
Insightful for all, if humanity or oneself wants to move forward one has to be hard charging and only focus on one goals. It also says that one emotion can be a negative or a positive if one knows when either is over played it or under played it! Then one has just to say am I prepared to lose all to win all!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-10-23
Great autobiography
A must read or listen for all Musk enthusiasts. A great job by Walter Isaacson
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amirali
- 01-11-23
Great storytelling
Makes you see into the mind of an important person (as much as possible) without ever passing a judgement. Enjoyed listening to this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-10-23
Not perfect, but loved it.
It is the first book in a very long time that I've listened to - with much interest, and managed to finish in one week. Seriously considering relistening some parts of it.
I am fascinated by this human being called Elon Musk.
As flawed as it is depicted in this book, I feel much affection toward him.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 08-01-24
Super in depth
Incredible amount of information verified from various sources that you couldn’t get anywhere else! Amazing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- christopher
- 01-03-24
Great listen
It is Amazing what Musk has achieved in such a short space of time in so many industries
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chris Ives
- 11-03-24
Great story well told
Well paced and interesting. Would recommend to anyone wanting to find out more about EM.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!