A new biography of Elon Musk portrays the billionaire entrepreneur as a complex, tortured figure whose brilliance is often overshadowed by his inability to relate on a human level to the people around him — his wives, his children and those on whom he relied to help build the space exploration and electric car businesses that made him the wealthiest man on Earth.
Mr. Musk’s life so far — his difficult childhood in South Africa, his stormy romantic relationships, his success as a visionary who created SpaceX and Tesla, and his impetuous decision to buy Twitter — is detailed through scores of interviews with his family, friends, business associates and Mr. Musk himself.
The book, which will be released on Tuesday, is by Walter Isaacson, the journalist whose previous works have chronicled the lives of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin.
It opens with a quote from Mr. Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, who once said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
Persons:
Elon Musk, Musk, Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Jobs, “, ”
Organizations:
SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, Apple
Locations:
South Africa