Elon Musk is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating and controversial innovators of our time – a visionary trailblazer who helped lead the world into an era of electronic vehicles, private space exploration and artificial intelligence.
A brand new biography by Walter Isaacson, which appeared on store shelves worldwide on Tuesday, gives an intimate look at the life of this South African-born businessman, billionaire and philanthropist. The book is published by Simon & Schuster Publishers.
The news that Musk secretly welcomed an eleventh pinky foot, Techno Mechanicus, is confirmed in the biography, among other things. This is Musk’s third child with the 35-year-old singer, Grimes.
The book was officially available as of Tuesday, though The New York Times already published a book report about it last week. It is precisely in this report that the news about Musk’s latest sprout is announced.
In researching the biography, Isaacson spent a lot of time with the 52-year-old Musk for about two years. Among other things, he attended meetings with Musk, walked through factories and conducted hours-long interviews with family members, friends and colleagues.
The result is a revealing story filled with incredible stories of triumphs and upheavals.
As a child in South Africa, Musk was bullied non-stop. One day a group of children threw him down the stairs and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball. He was then treated in hospital for a week, but the physical scars were small compared to the emotional scars left on him by his own father, an engineer and charismatic fantasist.
His father’s impact on his psyche would last a long time and he developed a high tolerance for risk and a craving for drama.
“I have to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which I have been for about 14 years now, or probably most of my life,” Musk said in 2022.
More about the author:
Walter Isaacson has previously written best-selling biographies of celebrities such as Jennifer Doudna, Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein.
He is a professor of history at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN and editor of Time. He was also honored with a National Humanities medal earlier this year.
Elon Musk
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Price: R590
