#1 New York Times bestseller

From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.

Elon Musk was frequently beaten by bullies when he was a child in South Africa. He was kicked and shoved down some concrete steps one day by a bunch of people, causing his face to swell into a ball of flesh. He spent a week in the hospital. However, the emotional wounds caused by his father—a charming fantasist, and renegade engineer—were far worse than the physical ones.

The psychological effects of his father would not go away. He became a tough but sensitive man-child, prone to sudden mood swings like those of Jekyll and Hyde, with extreme risk tolerance, a passion for drama, an epic sense of purpose, and a manic intensity that could be both destructive and cruel at the same time.

After a year in which SpaceX sent thirty-one rockets into space, Tesla sold a million vehicles, and Musk became the richest man on the planet, Musk talked regretfully at the start of 2022 about his need to create drama. He said, "I need to change my perspective from living in crisis mode, which I have been doing for the past fourteen years, or maybe the majority of my life."

Not a resolution for the new year, but rather a melancholic remark. He was covertly accumulating shares in Twitter, the ultimate playground in the world, even as he was saying this. Over the years, he would imagine himself being tormented on the playground anytime he was in a bad situation. He may now be the playground's owner.

Isaacson spent two years walking Musk's factories, attending his meetings, and shadowing him. He also spent hours interviewing Musk's friends, family, colleagues, and enemies. The end product is the eye-opening insider narrative, replete with incredible tales of victories and turbulence, which tackles the question: Can Musk's inner demons spur him on to innovate and advance society?