Elon Musk is still unknown to France. Yet, his work today designates him as the result of a fusion between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Co-founder of Paypal, he then became a key figure at Tesla Motors, SolarCity, Hyperloop, and SpaceX, the company that embodies him according to the author. He also served as a model for the Iron Man movie, where Tony Stark is nothing but an interpretation of Elon Musk.
This book is the translation of his biography written by Ashlee Vance. A true best-seller across the Atlantic. It traces Elon Musk’s journey accompanied by numerous testimonies from his close collaborators, current and recent employees, and the interested party himself. Despite the contribution of the interested party, the journalist maintains his independence. Throughout the book, one can appreciate the confrontation of the positions of his close ones with those of Elon Musk.
The work begins with his difficult childhood in South Africa, then moves on to his arrival in Canada, which was only a step to go to the United States. The book continues around the Paypal adventure, which resulted from the merger of his company with Peter Thiel’s. Then, the majority of this book is dedicated to SpaceX and Tesla Motors. SpaceX is probably the most interesting because it reflects Elon Musk’s personality. From his desire to impose unattainable deadlines on his employees, to achieving the impossible, his management of human resources, which can be criticized. “What was clear was that the people who worked for him were treated like ammunition and used for a given task until exhaustion; then they were disposed of,” comments a former employee.
Through these experiences, we discover the difficulties that Elon Musk encounters, whether in his private life or with his associates. The book also emphasizes that Elon Musk’s success was far from guaranteed in advance; on several occasions, his companies were on the brink of bankruptcy, but Elon’s determination combined with the hard work of his employees, some of whom, notably engineers at SpaceX, work 90-hour weeks to meet Musk’s deadlines.
However, I have a regret about this book; it only briefly mentions the Hyperloop project in the last pages. Personally, Musk’s project interests me the most. It is a new means of transportation. It resembles pneumatic networks found in hospitals or large stores. To confuse it with the train would be a mistake; it is by no means a much faster TGV. “The tube should operate under low pressure and the pods float on a cushion of air produced at their base by skis. The pods would be propelled forward by an electromagnetic thrust, relayed if necessary by motors placed along the tube. They could thus travel at nearly 1300 km/h and connect Los Angeles to San Francisco in about thirty minutes. The entire system would of course operate on solar energy, between cities less than 1,600 kilometers apart.”
In conclusion, Ashlee Vance, the author, paints a portrait of a man who is both fascinating and terrifying. Fascinating because he is changing the rules of the automotive, aerospace, and energy industries. Terrifying because his management of human resources is very different from our French culture, but the portrait that the author paints makes his relationship with others understandable.
- Title: Elon Musk
- Author: Ashlee Vance
- Publisher: Eyrolles
- Publication Date: February 11, 2016
- Number of Pages: 366
- Price: €24.90
