This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Elon Musk" by Ashlee Vance. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here .
What is Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance about? What aspects of Musk’s life does Vance cover?
Elon Musk went from a bullied schoolboy in South Africa, to an entrepreneur during the dot com bubble, to the richest man on Earth. In Musk’s biography, author Ashlee Vance discusses the personal life, business ventures, and management styles of the billionaire.
Continue reading to learn more about Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance.
The Biography of Elon Musk
In Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance, technology journalist Ashlee Vance describes the life and career of entrepreneur, innovator, and billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla. He describes an entrepreneur who is driven by big goals and personal interests, not trends or get-rich-quick schemes. Despite facing challenges and public doubt, Musk changed three major industries and became a billionaire in the process.
After spending almost 50 hours interviewing Musk, Vance presents unique insight into the life of one of this generation’s most innovative entrepreneurs, as well as the difficult process of building multiple successful companies. Published in 2015, this biography will interest anyone who wants to learn about Musk, his entrepreneurial mindsets, or industries with the potential to change the future.
Vance breaks down Musk’s process of creating Zip2, X.com (later known as PayPal), SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity. First, we’ll discuss Musk’s childhood in South Africa. Then, we’ll describe how he built each of his companies and some of the major milestones each business met. Finally, we’ll explore Vance’s reflections on how Musk’s traits and management style helped him succeed.
Early Life and Challenges
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance first introduces Elon’s childhood. Elon Musk was born in South Africa in 1971. Vance describes two main challenges Musk faced as he grew up:
1) Being bullied: Musk’s bookishness and know-it-all reputation set him apart from his peers, and he was beaten and bullied by a group of boys for several years. Musk noted that this was one of the most difficult experiences of his childhood. The bullying finally stopped when he switched to a different high school with a more peaceful environment.
2) Living with his father: Vance notes that Musk wouldn’t go into great detail about his father, but he acknowledged that Errol was a difficult person to be around, inflicted a level of psychological torture on him, made his life miserable, and dismissed Musk’s dream of moving to America (which Musk eventually did after graduating high school—despite his father’s discouragement).
Zip2
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance describes Musk’s first business venture. In 1995, after leaving South Africa and graduating from college, Musk moved to Silicon Valley with his brother Kimbal to try to start a dot-com company. They founded Zip2, a searchable online directory that linked to a map. Vance explains that Musk thought of the idea during one of his internships after a salesman gave a weak pitch for an online Yellow Pages. Musk saw a business opportunity: selling a way for companies to advertise online.
———End of Preview———
Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Ashlee Vance's "Elon Musk" at Shortform .
Here's what you'll find in our full Elon Musk summary :
- A look into Elon Musk’s childhood and early companies
- Musk's roles in SpaceX and Tesla, and later, in SolarCity
- The traits and management methods that helped Musk succeed
