‘Elon Musk’s Biography’ – Adversity molds genius

Elon Musk tells the story of growing up in a family with discordant parents, experiencing a deprived childhood, and being bullied, in his biography.

The book was written by Walter Isaacson, a famous American journalist, over two years. The Vietnamese version was translated by AlphaBooks, 756 pages thick, and released on December 20. The book is like a movie, recreating the life of the world’s richest tycoon from childhood to becoming a technology tycoon. Through the biography, Musk appears as a crazy genius, who has difficulty controlling his emotions and handling relationships around him. In Walter Isaacson’s words, “there is always a devil” inside the billionaire. “Adversity molded me. My pain threshold is very high,” Elon Musk said in the book.

The Washington Post rated the biography as engaging despite its length, thanks to its concise writing style and short chapters that contain a lot of facts. The AP said the most interesting part of the book is at the beginning, when the author delves into many details about Musk’s upbringing and family life.

The author leads readers to explore every hidden corner of the billionaire’s personality, from when he was a weak child growing up in South Africa. Musk was born into a somewhat chaotic and wild family, with an adventurous mother and a talented but flawed engineer father , who was involved in many complicated love affairs. Maye – Elon Musk’s mother – said that the fear of becoming a copy of her father led Musk to success.

The book “Elon Musk Biography” by Walter Issacson. Photo: AlphaBooks

Elon’s father, Eroll Musk, was strict with his children, sending Elon and his younger brother, Kimball, to a paramilitary survival camp to learn how to survive on their own. As a small boy, Musk was often the target of bullying at school. At one point, Elon was beaten so badly that he had to be hospitalized for a week. Ten years later, he still needed plastic surgery to repair tissue in his nose.

However, compared to the physical pain, Elon suffered more mentally. After each beating at school, the boy was always blamed and scolded by his father for hours. In the biography, Mr. Eroll admitted to the author that “violence was simply part of the learning experience” of his children. He proudly concluded that he practiced “extremely hard street-style despotism” with his sons and emphasized the point: “Later, Elon would apply the same hard-core despotism to himself and others.”

From a young age, the billionaire was considered an unusual child. Mrs. Maye, believing her son was a genius, wanted Musk to start school early. However, at school, teachers concluded that Musk was slow to develop and had difficulty concentrating. Musk also had difficulty making friends and socializing. Mrs. Maye said: “Elon was never actually diagnosed, but he told himself he had Asperger’s, and I’m sure he was right.” This condition was aggravated by childhood trauma. Close friend Antonio Gracias said that whenever he felt bullied or threatened, Musk reacted quite negatively.

Elon Musk at age 44. Photo: Reuters

After the divorce, Mrs. Maye struggled to raise her children due to lack of money. Elon Musk and his siblings often had to reuse old clothes and school supplies. Because she was often away from home giving speeches on nutrition, Mrs. Maye let her children be independent and live with a housekeeper. Elon tested rockets and explosives since kindergarten, and once said he was surprised that his fingers were still intact through his childhood.

In the following sections, the book tells the story of Elon Musk starting a business, building Tesla and SpaceX, then supporting these two companies on the brink of bankruptcy, until becoming a leading entrepreneur in the fields of aviation and artificial intelligence and the first person to own 300 billion USD. The author also depicts a crazy Elon Musk in the eyes of many people when buying Twitter (now X), who constantly appeared in the media, causing many subordinates to struggle when restructuring this company.

Like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk is described as having the ability to “distort reality”, a virtue that allows them to convince others to do the impossible to change reality.

The book also reveals Musk’s relationships with many beauties such as Amber Heard, Grimes or his love affair with his subordinate. Like his father – Mr. Eroll – who has seven children with three women, Elon Musk also has 11 children with three people.

Mr. Hoang Nam Tien – Vice Chairman of FPT University Council – said he admired the way author Walter Isaacson exploited and told stories. “He created a
multidimensional space, persistently leading readers back to Musk’s childhood days
until his success, skillfully piecing together fragments of memories, and soberly explaining
the hidden feelings and impacts of the environment on human destiny.

He decisively removes the glamorous cover that the media has painted around Musk, giving readers back a naked, everyday hero. That man wanders between the peak and the abyss, between noble aspirations and inner darkness, between the current success frenzy and the open, unhealed wounds from the past.

Elon Musk (full name Elon Reeve Musk), 52 years old, is the founder and CEO of SpaceX; CEO, product architect of Tesla, founder of PayPal, co-founder of Neuralink, chairman of SolarCity. According to Forbes , Musk is currently the richest person in the world with a total fortune of 251.3 billion USD.

Musk has 11 children, including six with his first wife Justine (whose first son died at 10 weeks old), three with singer Grimes and two with Shivon Zilis – his subordinate at Neuralink.

Author Walter Isaacson was born in 1952, is a famous American journalist, professor, and author. He is the former chairman and CEO of CNN , editor of Time magazine . He is the author of many famous biographies of figures such as Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Einstein.