Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Amazing and Insightful Biography About Elon Musk’s Life and Companies.

For those of us familiar with the work of Ashlee Vance, it will come as no surprise that this is one incredibly well-written book. His pieces for Bloomberg Businessweek and the New York Times were always well thought out and thoroughly researched - and, like Elon, Ashlee was born in South Africa so it came as no surprise that his biography of Musk is very engaging and provides an in-depth view into his business methodologies and companies. Vance writes about Musk in an objective way that is straightforward and educational. I was hooked from the first page through the last - I could not put the book down! The book begins by covering the early years of Musk’s life. He does not spend too much time delving into his childhood but just enough for the reader to understand how these first critical years shaped Musk to become the driven man he is today. He discusses his upbringing in South Africa (which I assume he can somewhat relate to), followed by his time in Canada ultimately how he made it to the United States. A majority of the book covers his time in the United States because the book mostly discusses the creation of his companies. That said, one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much is because Vance writes as much about Elon Musk as a person as he does Musk the inventor and entrepreneur. While most things that I have read about Elon Musk focus on his businesses acumen, very few sources shine a light on him as a human being, which I think is important. The parts about his relationships past and present were discussed with open honesty and make him somewhat relatable - a difficult feat in this age of "celebrity" idolization. When I have discussed people like Elon with my son, I remind him that we are all human beings, and humans being, and it is important to focus on the hard work and dedication instead of the celebrity. I feel like this book helps manage peoples' expectations around what it actually takes to be successful. Vance does an excellent job of ...