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  • Published: 28 March 2016
  • ISBN: 9780753555644
  • Imprint: Virgin Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $30.00

Elon Musk

How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future




‘I would like to die on Mars, just not on impact.’ – Elon Musk

South African born Elon Musk is the renowned entrepreneur and innovator behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. Musk wants to save our planet; he wants to send citizens into space, to form a colony on Mars; he wants to make money while doing these things; and he wants us all to know about it. He is the real-life inspiration for the Iron Man series of films starring Robert Downey Junior.

The personal tale of Musk’s life comes with all the trappings one associates with a great, drama-filled story. He was a freakishly bright kid who was bullied brutally at school, and abused by his father. In the midst of these rough conditions, and the violence of apartheid South Africa, Musk still thrived academically and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he paid his own way through school by turning his house into a club and throwing massive parties.

He started a pair of huge dot-com successes, including PayPal, which eBay acquired for $1.5 billion in 2002. Musk was forced out as CEO and so began his lost years in which he decided to go it alone and baffled friends by investing his fortune in rockets and electric cars. Meanwhile Musk’s marriage disintegrated as his technological obsessions took over his life ...

Elon Musk is the Steve Jobs of the present and the future, and for the past twelve months, he has been shadowed by tech reporter, Ashlee Vance. Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of Spacex and Tesla is Shaping our Future is an important, exciting and intelligent account of the real-life Iron Man.

  • Published: 28 March 2016
  • ISBN: 9780753555644
  • Imprint: Virgin Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $30.00

About the author

Ashlee Vance

Ashlee Vance is one of the most prominent writers on technology today. After spending several years reporting on Silicon Valley and technology for the New York Times, Vance went to Bloomberg Businessweek, where he has written dozens of cover and feature stories for the magazine on topics ranging from cyber espionage to DNA sequencing and space exploration.

Also by Ashlee Vance

See all

Praise for Elon Musk

For anyone interested in technology, entrepreneurship or the price of greatness, Ashlee Vance's new book is a tremendous look into arguably the world's most important entrepreneur. Vance paints an unforgettable picture of Musk's unique personality, insatiable drive and ability to thrive through hardship. The book bursts with telling anecdotes and quotes that illuminate who Musk is

The Washington Post

Exhaustively reported . . . this work will likely serve as the definitive account of a man whom so far we've seen mostly through caricature. By the final pages, too, any reader will sense the need to put comparisons to Steve Jobs aside. Give Musk credit. There is no one like him

New York Times

A book that is smart, light on its feet and possesses a crunchy thoroughness. . . . Mr Vance delivers a well-calibrated portrait of Mr Musk, so that we comprehend both his friends and his enemies. It's a book with many ancillary pleasures. Mr Vance brings us up to date on the states of green energy and space launches. He also veers away from his subject just often enough, offering profiles of the frequently brilliant people who work alongside Mr Musk. The best thing Mr Vance does in this book, though, is tell Mr Musk's story simply and well

The New York Times

Ashlee Vance’s stellar biography captures Musk’s remarkable life story and irrepressible spirit

Richard Branson

This is an entertaining read for anybody who wants to get into the mind of this hyperactive entrepreneur who bounces between being eccentric, obnoxious and a genius.

The Times

Ashlee Vance’s portrait of Elon Musk at mid-life is an essential read. You might think you know this story: how a South African with a big vision ended up creating and running the first successful private space concern (SpaceX) and the first profitable electric car company, with the biggest US solar installer (SolarCity) as a side project. But what emerges is a riveting portrait of Silicon Valley’s most driven entrepreneur since Steve Jobs, personal flaws and all.

Financial Times

This is the definitive look at the man who may have the biggest impact on the human race.

Brad Stone

Fascinating and superbly researched

Guardian