My View from 1958

I recently finished the book, “Elon Musk”, by Walter Isaacson. I really enjoyed it, but I do not intend this Post to be a book review by any stretch. I consider myself pretty-well read when it comes to current events, history and contemporary biographies.  I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by what I did NOT know about Musk and I thought I would share some of these highlights.

• Musk was bullied as a child and at least emotionally abused by his father.
• He pretty much set off on his own at age 18 to come to Canada and later America.
• At age 27, he sold Zip2, an online city guide he developed, for $340 million dollars.
• He not only is the founder/co-founder of PayPal, Tesla/Tesla Energy/Optimus, SpaceX, Starlink, X (formally known as Twitter), but also The Boring Company, Neuralink, and xAI.
• His personality is, to say the least, very complicated. After completing the book, I would describe him as:
  • Genius
  • Pioneering
  • Risk taker
  • Abrasive and rude. I really did not like this dark side of him. He often would berate employees in public and fire them if they did not know details of a product or process. I found this a bit disturbing.
  • Driven/relentless- There are multiple examples the author had about Elon working long days and sleeping on the factory floor when Tesla was first started. The same is true at SpaceX.
  • Tormented (by his past and his father’s abuses)
  • Matter of fact/to the point
  • Impulsive

• He has 12 children with 3 different women. He has a transgender child.
• He was married 3 times
• Most influential book he has read, “The Hitchhikes Guide to the Galaxy”. I was so curious I picked up a copy and started to read it.
• Passion: Occupy Mars, save humanity from itself.
• Concerned that there are not enough children being born in the world which he believes will impact our ability to advance technology.
• He described his political views as libertarian until the COVID 19 Pandemic and the “fight” for free speech.
• Other than DOGE, his latest passion is Artificial Intelligence (AI) safety and ensuring AI is not controlled by just a few large companies such as Microsoft or Google. This is why he started xAI. Too much power centralized in too few companies is dangerous (I agree by the way).
• His commitment to X (aka Twitter) was interesting. Like the guy or not, I believe what he did when he bought Twitter was a great thing. It has been proven that Twitter was heavily involved in some level censorship, suppression of thoughts and use of BOTS to sway opinion. He is quoted as saying, “without free speech, all is lost.”

I also found his “algorithm” very thought-provoking and applicable to today’s world of manufacturing. This mantra that has become part of the culture at Tesla and SpaceX has five commandments:

1. Question every requirement
2. Delete any part or process that you can
3. Simplify and optimize
4. Accelerate cycle time
5. Automate

He is also a strong advocate that all technical managers must have hands-on experience.

Musk evokes many emotions not only in me, but people around the world to include his own family.  For example, his transgender child has not spoken to him for years, and pretty much wants nothing to do with him.  I wonder if that includes his money?

It is in my opinion that the world and democracy is in a better place today because of his genius, innovations and commitment to freedom.

What are your thoughts?