Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance

How Elon Musk became the world’s richest man, how he started Tesla, how failure shaped his life, and how he learned about space—everything is packed in Elon Musk’s autobiography, written by Ashlee Vance.

Talking about myself, I’ve learned a lot from Elon Musk. He’s accomplished things that many of us never thought possible.

He’s faced countless failures, whether with Tesla or even SpaceX. He’s said many times that he can do anything except give up, and that mindset is a big reason why he’s where he is today.

Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance Summary

If you’re someone who wants to dive into the brain of Elon Musk, then yes, Ashlee Vance’s book Elon Musk is the one you need to read. It has everything that will inspire you to do something extraordinary with your life. So go read it—it’ll make you rethink life and the world around you.

Elon Musk never had a simple childhood.

His parents got separated, and he chose to live with his father. On top of that, Elon Musk was bullied in school, which led him to spend a lot of time at home, reading books and watching movies. In fact, there was a time when he read 60 books in a month—two books every day for 30 days.

And here, some of you are saying, “I don’t like to read books.”

Well, if you’re someone who loves to learn from others’ lives, you’ll enjoy this book. Ashlee Vance, the author, spent 30 hours with Elon Musk and has shared his life in a compact, engaging format.

Under One Roof

Let’s say you have five to ten ideas and want to start a new business. How do you choose one? It’s simple—ask yourself these questions:

• Will I be able to work on this idea if I don’t earn money for the next two to three years?
• Will I ever get bored working on this idea?
• Why do I want to work on this idea? Is there a specific reason?
• Is there any way I can work on two ideas at the same time and connect both of them?

Ask yourself these questions, and now, let me tell you how Elon Musk manages his businesses.

Elon Musk has connected all of his business.

For example, Tesla produces batteries, which SolarCity can sell, and SolarCity makes solar panels for Tesla charging stations. As you can see, all of his businesses are interconnected, allowing him to avoid working hard on each one separately or putting in extra time for additional work.

So take a moment to think about how you can connect the dots with your own ideas.

Right Questions

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has had a huge impact on Elon Musk’s life, and he has learned a lot from it.

The book emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions. It’s easy to answer questions, but sometimes, it’s very hard to ask the right question at the right time.

By the way, I haven’t read any of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books yet, but I’ve recently ordered four of them. Once I get them and read them, I’ll share my thoughts over at BookiesTalk.

Let’s take another example:

So you want to earn money from the internet. The first question might be, “How can I earn money online?”

But you can also ask,

• What are the best ways to earn money online?
• How much money can I make?
• How much time will it take to start earning?
• Do I really need to earn from the internet?

Yes, you can make money online, but you’ll need to ask the right questions to get the right answers.

Never Give Up

Failure is not the end of the world; it will come and go, but in the end, it depends on how you handle it.

We all know that the first and second rocket launches of SpaceX failed, yet Elon Musk tried again for the third time. And if he had failed for the third time, it would have been over for him—he could have lost everything. But still, he believed in himself, and now we all know what he’s accomplishing.

No matter what you’re doing, if something isn’t working out, ask yourself: “What am I doing wrong, and what can I do to make this work?”

So go ahead, fix your problems.

Timeline of Elon Musk’s Businesses

Elon Musk’s journey started in 1995 when he founded the Global Link Information Network, which was later renamed Zip2.

In February 1999, Compaq Computer offered to pay $307 million in cash for Zip2, and Musk sold it. With that $307 million, he bought a McLaren sports car, a condo, and a prop plane. The rest went into a new internet company called X.com (now PayPal).

Soon after, Peter Thiel and Max Levchin created PayPal, which became a direct competitor to X.com. This led to a merger between X.com and PayPal after about two months. But even then, things didn’t go smoothly. While Musk was on his honeymoon, he was removed as CEO, and the company rebranded from X.com to PayPal.

In 2002, PayPal was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, and Musk’s share was $250 million. He used that money to start SpaceX in 2002. It took SpaceX four years to achieve its first successful launch, but we all know where he is now—things definitely worked out for him.

Elon Musk has recently said that he and J.B. Straubel were the original founders of Tesla, with Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning joining later. Fun fact: Musk invested $6.5 million in Tesla in its early days.

Now, Musk is running three major businesses: SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity.

In 2022, he unveiled the world’s largest lithium-ion battery factory, the Gigafactory.

Elon Musk bought X (formerly Twitter) in October 2022 for $44 billion. He initially bought a 9.2% stake in the company earlier that year and then made an offer to take it private.

As for XAI (X Artificial Intelligence), Musk founded it in 2023. XAI focuses on developing AI technology and was launched to fit Musk’s vision for AI under his X platform. It’s an independent company but closely linked to Musk’s other ventures, including X (formerly Twitter).

Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance Notes

“Money is not his motivation, and, quite frankly, I think it just happens for him,” Justine said. “It’s just there. He knows he can generate it.”

“There needs to be a reason for a grade. 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.”

“I think there are probably too many smart people pursuing Internet stuff, finance, and law,” Musk said on the way. “That is part of the reason why we haven’t seen as much innovation.”

“Everything he does is fast,” Brogan said. “He pees fast. It’s like a fire hose—three seconds and out. He’s authentically in a hurry.”

“I’m not sure why I’d want to talk about extremely sad events. It does no good for the future. If you’ve got other kids and obligations, then wallowing in sadness does no good for anyone around you. I’m not sure what should be done in such situations.”

“To the extent that the world still doubts Elon, I think it’s a reflection on the insanity of the world and not on the supposed insanity of Elon.”

“The company would pick a plan of attack, and when it failed at something, it failed fast and then tried a new approach.”

“I really like computer games, but then if I made really great computer games, how much effect would that have on the world,”

“Musk sampled a handful of ideologies and then ended up more or less back where he had started, embracing the sci-fi lessons found in one of the most influential books in his life: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams.”

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