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

Based on the Book by Ashlee Vance

• Publisher: Worth Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781504044974
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Biographies
• Index: Business

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Elon Musk tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Ashlee Vance's book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Elon Musk includes:

• Historical context
• Chapter-by-chapter overviews
• Profiles of the main characters
• Detailed timeline of key events
• Important quotes
• Fascinating trivia
• Glossary of terms
• Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work

About Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance: The bestselling biography Elon Musk offers a vigorous look at the most famous entrepreneur of our time. Ashlee Vance's tough reporting, exclusive access to Musk's friends and family, and years on the technology beat for Bloomberg Businessweek have enabled him to paint a picture of the most interesting man in the industry. Elon Musk is behind the modern electric vehicle at Tesla and has revolutionized the cost and convenience of spaceflight at his rocket company, SpaceX. In addition to these major business and technological success stories, Musk cofounded PayPal, which was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, and sold Zip2 to Compaq during the dotcom boom. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.

Summary

1. Elon’s World

The author, Ashlee Vance, meets Elon Musk for dinner at a restaurant in Los Angeles. After many months of effort, he has finally convinced Elon to sit down with him. Over dinner, he discusses his plans to colonize Mars and release a new electric car. Vance, meanwhile, is there to strike a deal for access and cooperation on a wide-ranging biography that will tell the story of the visionary. Elon eventually agrees. As he takes his leave, he asks Vance, “Do you think I’m insane?” It is a question the author will pursue throughout the book.

Need to Know: Unlike other would-be biographers, Vance alone was successful in obtaining Musk’s cooperation—after telling Elon he would write the book with or without him. Elon spent more than 30 hours with Vance and participated in multiple interviews.

2. Africa

Elon Musk first made headlines at the age of 12, in 1984, the early days of personal computing, when a publication printed the code for a video game he wrote himself. It was Apartheid-era South Africa, and the young coder was the son of Errol and the glamorous Maye Musk, who had moved to South Africa from Canada as a child. (Maye still works as a model.)

The marriage was tumultuous and ended in divorce. Elon wound up with his father, Errol. An engineer by trade, Errol was a difficult and strict parent. Elon said his childhood was “like misery” and has vowed to never let his children meet their grandfather.

By the third or fourth grade Elon ran out of books to read at the school’s library. He would sneak into a bookstore and read books off the shelf—occasionally getting kicked out. He eventually began reading the Encyclopedia Britannica, which he loved. His preternatural knowledge, enthusiasm for learning, creativity, and a focus on the big questions did not endear him to his classmates. When a friend said he was afraid of the dark, Elon replied that there was nothing to be afraid of because darkness is merely an absence of light.

As an independent scholar, he did well, but Elon had a tough time in school and was occasionally beaten up. At 10 years old, he convinced his father to buy him a Commodore VIC-20 computer. It came with a guide meant to be used over six months—Elon exhausted it in three days.

Despite his bookish nature, Elon was a key member of an enterprising pre-teen team who came up with their own schemes. The other members were his little brother Kimbal, and his cousins Russ, Lyndon, and Peter, all of whom often got in trouble. Presaging his times at SpaceX, Elon became interested in building rockets and explosives, mixing chemicals himself. Once, Elon and his cousins got a lease for a video arcade, but the plan fizzled when they found they needed someone over the age of 18 to sign the document. He and his cousins also took the dangerous train ride to Johannesburg, which they recount as a formative experience.

In high school, as in grade school, Elon was bullied, although he was treated better as he became older. His classmates do not remember him as an exceptional student, and some expressed surprise that he became so successful. Elon himself recounts that he got good grades only in classes he cared about.

After high school, Elon spent five months at the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada at the young age of 17. In light of his mother’s Canadian roots, Elon was able to secure Canadian citizenship and was determined to eventually make it to the United States.

Need to Know: As a child, Elon Musk demonstrated a remarkable affinity for learning, a trait for which he was often bullied. Unhappy in South Africa, he moved to Canada as soon as he could.

3. Canada

Elon arrived in Canada without a job or a place to live. He had planned to stay with a great-uncle, but learned that he had moved to Minnesota. Without a fixed address, Elon bought a bus ticket and traveled across Canada, staying with relatives along the way until he reached Swift Current, Saskatchewan, where his grandfather used to live. He stayed with a second cousin and, for the next year, worked odd jobs around the country. He was a hard worker, and one of only a few employees who stuck out a grueling and dangerous job in the boiler room of a lumber mill.

In 1989, Elon enrolled at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. There he met Justine Wilson, a fellow student and his future wife. Although she dated popular men and imagined a whir...

Table of contents

• Title
• Disclaimer
• Contents
• Context
• Overview
• Summary
• Timeline
• Cast of Characters
• Direct Quotes and Analysis
• Trivia
• What’s That Word?
• Critical Response
• About Ashlee Vance
• For Your Information
• Bibliography
• Copyright