by Walter Isaacson · 11 Sep 2023 · 562pp · 201,502 words
to own the playground. 1 Adventurers Winnifred and Joshua Haldeman Errol, Maye, Elon, Tosca, and Kimbal Musk Cora and Walter Musk Joshua and Winnifred Haldeman Elon Musk’s attraction to risk was a family trait. In that regard, he took after his maternal grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, a daredevil adventurer with strongly held
…
Sunday in January 2002, while they were working in a rented warehouse on their amateur engine, Garvey mentioned to Mueller that an internet millionaire named Elon Musk wanted to meet him. When Musk arrived accompanied by Justine, Mueller was shouldering the suspended eighty-pound engine as he tried to bolt it
…
, they were bestowed with outsized capabilities in math and science, but without the demons and harshness of their father and grandfather. Being the sons of Elon Musk was difficult, but they were “stoics,” as Musk called them. He discussed with Kai, then sixteen, the possibility of leaving high school and coming
…
sometimes even toxic. They can also be crazy. Crazy enough to think they can change the world. With Grimes and Maye after the launch Acknowledgments Elon Musk allowed me to shadow him for two years, invited me to sit in on his meetings, indulged scores of interviews and late-night conversations, provided
…
. Senior manager, Tesla Energy. Tom Mueller. Founding employee and engine designer, SpaceX. Andrew Musk. First cousin of Musk. Christiana Musk. Wife of Kimbal Musk. Elon Musk. Errol Musk. Father of Musk. Griffin Musk. Son of Musk. James Musk. First cousin of Musk. Justine Musk. First wife of Musk and mother of
…
Grimes), Peter Thiel. Tom Junod, “Triumph of His Will,” Esquire, Dec. 2012 (includes the quip about having no navel). 1. Adventurers: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Maye Musk, Kimbal Musk, Tosca Musk, Errol Musk, Jared Birchall. Joseph Keating and Scott Haldeman, “Joshua N. Haldeman, DC: The Canadian Years,” Journal of the
…
House Preparatory School, Glenashley Senior Primary School, Bryanston High School, and Pretoria Boys High School; Neil Strauss, “The Architect of Tomorrow”; Emily Lane Fox, “How Elon Musk’s Mom (and Her Twin Sister) Raised the First Family of Tech,” Vanity Fair, Oct. 21, 2015; Andrew Smith, “Emissary of the Future,” The
…
Telegraph (London), Jan. 8, 2014. 4. The Seeker: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Kimbal Musk, Maye Musk, Errol Musk, Peter Rive. Elon Musk, The Babylon Bee podcast, Dec. 21, 2021; Tad Friend, “Plugged In,” The New Yorker, Aug. 17, 2009; Maureen Dowd, “Blasting
…
Talk, Apr. 2017; Davenport, Space Barons; Berger, Liftoff. 15. Rocket Man: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Adeo Ressi. Amit Katwala, “What’s Driving Elon Musk?,” Wired, Sept. 8, 2018; Anderson, “Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars”; Levine, “Entrepreneur Elon Musk Talks about His Background in Physics”; Junod, “Triumph of His Will.” 16. Fathers and Sons: Author’s
…
, “I Was a Starter Wife”; Junod, “Triumph of His Will”; Strauss, “The Architect of Tomorrow.” 17. Revving Up: Author’s interviews with Tom Mueller, Elon Musk, Tim Buzza, Mark Juncosa. Jeremy Rosenberg, interview with Tom Mueller, KCET Public Radio, May 3, 2012; Michael Belfiore, “Behind the Scenes with the World’s
…
University, June 14, 2021; Chad Anderson, “Rethinking Public-Private Space Travel,” Space Policy, Nov. 2013. 20. Founders: Author’s interviews with Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, Elon Musk, JB Straubel, Ben Rosen. Michael Copeland, “Tesla’s Wild Ride,” Fortune, July 9, 2008; Drake Baer, “The Making of Tesla,” Business Insider, Nov. 12,
…
2014; Higgins, Power Play; Vance, Elon Musk. 21. The Roadster: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, JB Straubel, Kimbal Musk, Michael Moritz, John Doerr, Alan Salzman, Jessica Switzer, Mickey Drexler. Baer, “The Making of
…
“Batteries Included,” Wired, Aug. 1, 2006; Matthew Wald, “Zero to 60 in 4 Seconds,” New York Times July 19, 2006; Copeland, “Tesla’s Wild Ride”; Elon Musk, “The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan,” Tesla blog, Aug. 2, 2006; interview with Martin Eberhard, Watt It Takes podcast, Sept. 2021; Higgins, Power Play; Vance
…
, Elon Musk; Niedermeyer, Ludicrous. 22. Kwaj: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Gwynne Shotwell, Hans Koenigsmann, Tim Buzza. Berger, Liftoff. Berger reported the scramble to replace the faulty capacitors. 23. Two Strikes: Author
…
May 22, 2007; Brian Berger, “Pad Processing Error Doomed Falcon 1,” SpaceNews, Apr. 10, 2006; Berger, Liftoff. 24. The SWAT Team: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Martin Eberhard, JB Straubel, Antonio Gracias, Tim Watkins, Deepak Ahuja. Zak Edson, “Tesla Motors Case Study: Sotira Carbon Fiber Body Panel Ramp, May–Oct 2008
…
”; Gene Bylinksy, “Heroes of U.S. Manufacturing: Michael Marks,” Fortune, Mar. 20, 2000; Higgins, Power Play. 26. Divorce: Author’s interviews with Justine Musk, Elon Musk, Maye Musk, Kimbal Musk, Antonio Gracias. Justine Musk, “I Was a Starter Wife”; Justine Musk, TEDx Talk, Jan. 26, 2016; Justine Musk, “From the Head
…
, Drew Baglino. John Markoff, “Tesla Motors Files Suit against Competitor over Design Ideas,” New York Times, Apr. 15, 2008; Chris Anderson, “The Shared Genius of Elon Musk and Steve Jobs,” Fortune, Nov. 27, 2013; Charles Duhigg, “Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk,” Wired, Dec. 13, 2018; Chuck Squatriglia, “First Look at Tesla’s
…
Aviation Week & Space Technology, June 15, 2009; Garver, Space Pirates; Berger, Liftoff; Davenport, Space Barons. 34. Falcon 9 Liftoff: Author’s interviews with Tim Buzza, Elon Musk, Lori Garver. Brian Vastag, “SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule Docks with International Space Station,” Washington Post, May 25, 2012; Garver, Space Pirates; Berger, Liftoff; Davenport, Space
…
Barons. 35. Marrying Talulah: Author’s interviews with Talulah Riley, Elon Musk, Kimbal Musk, Bill Lee, Navaid Farooq. Hermione Eyre, “How to Marry a Billionaire,” The Evening Standard (London), Apr. 10, 2012. 36. Manufacturing: Author’s interviews
…
with Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Franz von Holzhausen, Dave Morris, JB Straubel. Angus MacKenzie, “Shocking Winner: Proof Positive That America Can Still Make (Great) Things,” Motor Trend, Dec
…
Wander (Public Affairs/Harvard Business Review, 2021); Explorers Club 2014 dinner video, https://vimeo.com/119342003; Amanda Gordon, “Scene Last Night: Jeff Bezos Eats Gator, Elon Musk Space,” Bloomberg, Mar. 17, 2014; Jeffrey P. Bezos, Gary Lai, and Sean R. Findlay, “Sea Landing of Space Launch Vehicles,” Patent application US8678321B2, June
…
Trung Phan, Twitter thread, July 17, 2021; Davenport, Space Barons; Berger, Liftoff; Fernholz, Rocket Billionaires. 38. The Falcon Hears the Falconer: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Sam Teller, Steve Jurvetson, Antonio Gracias, Mark Juncosa, Jeff Bezos, Kiko Dontchev. Calia Cofield, “Blue Origin Makes Historic Reusable Rocket Landing in Epic Test Flight
…
Chancery Court, “Memorandum of opinion in re Tesla Motors stockholder litigation,” C.A. No. 12711-VCS, Apr. 27, 2022; Austin Carr, “The Real Story behind Elon Musk’s $2.6 Billion Acquisition of SolarCity,” Fast Company, June 7, 2017; Austin Carr, “Inside Steel Pulse,” Fast Company, June 9, 2017; Josh Dzieza,
…
Jared Birchall. Joe Kernen, Donald Trump interview, CNBC, Jan. 22, 2020; Barbara Jones, “Inter-galactic Family Feud,” Mail on Sunday, Mar. 17, 2018; Rob Crilly, “Elon Musk’s Estranged Father, 72, Calls His Newborn Baby with Stepdaughter ‘God’s Plan,’ ” The National Post (Canada), Mar. 25, 2018; Strauss, “The Architect of Tomorrow
…
.” 45. Descent into the Dark: Author’s interviews with Jon McNeill, Elon Musk, Kimbal Musk, Omead Afshar, Tim Watkins, Antonio Gracias, JB Straubel, Sam Teller, James Musk, Mark Juncosa, Jon McNeill, Gage Coffin. Duhigg, “Dr. Elon & Mr.
…
Musk.” 46. Fremont Factory Hell: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Sam Teller, Omead Afshar, Nick Kalayjian, Tim Watkins, Antonio Gracias, JB Straubel, Mark Juncosa, Jon McNeill, Sam Teller, Lars Moravy, Kimbal Musk, Rodney Westmoreland. Musk
…
Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District California, motion filed Apr. 22, 2022; David Gelles, James B. Stewart, Jessica Silver-Greenberg, and Kate Kelly, “Elon Musk Details ‘Excruciating’ Personal Toll of Tesla,” New York Times, Aug. 16, 2018; Dana Hull, “Weak Sauce,” Bloomberg, Apr. 24, 2022; Jim Cramer, Squawk on
…
Off in Domestic Bliss,” New York Times, July 25, 2020. 50. Shanghai: Author’s interviews with Robin Ren, Elon Musk. 51. Cybertruck: Author’s interviews with Franz von Holzhausen, Elon Musk, Dave Morris. Stephanie Mlot, “Elon Musk Wants to Make Bond’s Lotus Submarine Car a Reality,” PC Magazine, Oct. 18, 2013. 52. Starlink: Author’
…
from the FAA before December Launch,” The Verge, June 15, 2021. 58. Bezos vs. Musk, Round 2: Author’s interviews with Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Richard Branson. Christian Davenport, “Elon Musk Is Dominating the Space Race,” Washington Post, Sept. 10, 2021; Richard Waters, “Interview with FT’s Person of the Year,” Financial Times, Dec
…
split-adjusted prices for the stock. 68. Father of the Year: Author’s interviews with Shivon Zilis, Claire Boucher (Grimes), Tosca Musk, Elon Musk, Kimbal Musk, Maye Musk, Christiana Musk. Elon Musk interview with NPQ, Winter 2014; Devin Gordon, “Infamy Is Kind of Fun,” Vanity Fair, Mar. 10, 2022; Ed Felsenthal, Molly Ball,
…
S. Quietly Paying Millions to Send Starlink Terminals to Ukraine,” Washington Post, Apr. 8, 2022; Yaroslav Trofimov, Micah Maidenberg, and Drew FitzGerald, “Ukraine Leans on Elon Musk’s Starlink in Fight against Russia,” Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2022; Mehul Srivastava et al., “Ukrainian Forces Report Starlink Outages During Push against Russia
…
,” Financial Times, Oct. 7, 2022; Volodymyr Verbyany and Daryna Krasnolutska, “Ukraine to Get Thousands More Starlink Antennas,” Bloomberg, Dec. 20, 2022; Adam Satariano, “Elon Musk Doesn’t Want His Satellites to Run Ukraine’s Drones,” New York Times, Feb. 9, 2023; Joey Roulette, “SpaceX Curbed Ukraine’s Use of Starlink
…
,” Wall Street Journal, July 24, 2022. Errol Musk often copied me on his emails to his son. 76. Starbase Shake-up: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Sam Patel, Bill Riley, Andy Krebs, Jonah Nolan, Mark Juncosa, Omead Afshar, Jake McKenzie, Kiko Dontchev, Jared Isaacman, Sam Patel, Andy Krebs, Claire Boucher
…
Birchall, Alex Spiro, Antonio Gracias, Robert Steel, Blair Effron, Ari Emanuel, Larry David, Joe Scarborough. 79. Optimus Unveiled: Author’s interviews with Franz von Holzhausen, Elon Musk, Steve Davis, Lars Moravy, Anand Swaminathan, Milan Kovac, Phil Duan, Tim Zaman, Felix Sygulla, Anand Swaminathan, Ira Ehrenpreis, Jason Calacanis. 80. Robotaxi: Author’s
…
Birchall, Alex Spiro, Michael Grimes, Antonio Gracias, Brad Sheftel, David Sacks, Parag Agrawal, Tejas Dharamsi, Ro Khanna. 83. The Three Musketeers: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, James Musk, Andrew Musk, Dhaval Shroff, Ben San Souci, Chris Payne, Thomas Dmytryk, Yoni Ramon, Ross Nordeen, Kayvon Beykpour, Ben San Souci, Alex Spiro,
…
Tiffany Hsu, “Two Weeks of Chaos,” New York Times, Nov. 11, 2022. 84. Content Moderation: Author’s interviews with Yoel Roth, David Sacks, Jason Calacanis, Elon Musk, Jared Birchall, Yoni Ramon. Cat Zakrzewski, Faiz Siddiqui, and Joseph Menn, “Musk’s ‘Free Speech’ Agenda Dismantles Safety Work at Twitter,” Washington Post, Nov.
…
22, 2022; Elon Musk, “Time 100: Kanye West,” Time, Apr. 15, 2015; Steven Nelson and Natalie Musumeci, “Twitter Fact-Checker Has History of Politically Charged Posts,” New York Post
…
Magazine, Jan. 17, 2023; Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer, “Inside the Twitter Meltdown,” Platformer, Nov. 10, 2022. 87. All In: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Jared Birchall, Larry Ellison, Alex Spiro, James Musk, Andrew Musk, Ross Nordeen, Dhaval Shroff, David Sacks, Yoni Ramon. Gergely Orosz, “Twitter’s Ongoing Cruel Treatment
…
of Software Engineers,” Pragmatic Engineer, Nov. 20, 2022; Alex Heath, “Elon Musk Says Twitter Is Done with Layoffs and Ready to Hire Again,” The Verge, Nov. 21, 2022; Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer, “The Only Constant at
…
David Sacks, Yoni Ramon Larry Ellison, employees at Apple. Schiffer, Newton, and Heath, “Extremely Hardcore.” 89. Miracles: Author’s interviews with Shivon Zilis, Jeremy Barenholtz, Elon Musk, DJ Seo, Ross Nordeen. Ashlee Vance, “Musk’s Neuralink Hopes to Implant Computer in Human Brain in Six Months,” Bloomberg, Nov. 30, 2022. 90. The
…
Twitter Files: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Bari Weiss, Nellie Bowles, Alex Spiro, Ross Nordeen. Matt Taibbi, “Note from San Francisco,” TK News, Substack, Dec. 29, 2022; Matt Taibbi, Twitter File
…
26, 2022; Freddie Sayers and Jay Bhattacharya, “What I Discovered at Twitter HQ,” unherd.com, Dec. 26, 2022. 91. Rabbit Holes: Author’s interviews with Elon Musk, Claire Boucher (Grimes), Kimbal Musk, James Musk, Ross Nordeen, Bari Weiss, Nellie Bowle, Yoel Roth, David Zaslav. Drew Harwell and Taylor Lorenz, “Musk Blamed
…
a Twitter Account for an Alleged Stalker,” Washington Post, Dec. 18, 2022; Drew Harwell, “QAnon, Adrift after Trump’s Defeat, Finds New Life in Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2022; Yoel Roth, “Gay Data,” University of Pennsylvania PhD dissertation, Nov. 30, 2016. 92. Christmas Capers: Author’s
…
: Martin Schoeller/August Page 347 Top: Courtesy of SpaceX Bottom: Courtesy of Jehn Balajadia Page 353 Left: Courtesy of Blue Origin Right: Courtesy of Elon Musk Page 358 Top left: Courtesy of Andy Krebs Bottom left: Courtesy of Lucas Hughes Right: Nic Ansuini Page 376 Left: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo
…
right: Courtesy of Twitter Bottom left: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bottom right: Duffy-Marie Arnoult/WireImage/Getty Images Page 532 Top: Courtesy Elon Musk/Twitter Bottom: Courtesy of Maye Musk Page 546 Top: Courtesy of Christopher Stanley Page 561 Top: Courtesy of Neuralink Bottom: Courtesy of Jeremy Barenholtz
by Zoë Schiffer · 13 Feb 2024 · 343pp · 92,693 words
Random House to continue to publish books for every reader. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Schiffer, Zoë, author. Title: Extremely hardcore : inside Elon Musk’s Twitter / Zoë Schiffer. Description: New York : Portfolio/Penguin, [2024] | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2023048761 (print) | LCCN 2023048762 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593716601 (hardcover) | ISBN
…
” 71. “The Stakes” 72. “Zero Sum” Conclusion ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTES ABOUT THE AUTHOR _146181130_ INTRODUCTION “This App Makes Zero Fucking Sense” On February 12, 2023, Elon Musk sat on his private jet, fuming. He was flying home from the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, but his mind wasn’t on the game
…
wint, Twitter post, May 22, 2012, 5:46 p.m., twitter.com/dril/status/205052027259195393. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT INTRODUCTION damp sock puppet: Elon Musk, Twitter post, January 2022, 10:24 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1486767109275328516. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT the engineer, Yang: Per source’s
…
request, I am using only his first name. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “This is a battle”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, November 28, 2022, 8:41 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1597405399040217088. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT fled the platform: Alexander
…
Times, February 11, 2020, latimes.com/business/story/2020-02-11/musk-tesla-fans. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT an army of Elon Musk fans: “Matt Levine on Elon Musk: Chief Twit & ‘Meme Lord,’ ” On with Kara Swisher, Spotify, October 2022, open.spotify.com/episode/0W0GzlE4j8iHBEdNo5HAKH. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “
…
I suspect that the Thai govt”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, July 4, 2018, 10:02 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1014509856777293825. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Construction complete in about 8
…
hours”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, July 7, 2018, 2:39 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1015666557458964480. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “to make complimentary public statements
…
/lin-woodlawyer-closely-tied-to-trumppermanently-banned-from-twitter-after-claiming-capitol-siege-was-staged/. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Am considering taking Tesla”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, August 7, 2018, 12:48 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1026872652290379776. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT he did not respect
…
Washington Post, April 7, 2022, washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/07/musk-twitter-employee-outcry. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT retweeted a Hitler meme: Elon Musk, Twitter post, January 30, 2022, 1:52 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1487861173626101760. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “I keep forgetting that
…
you’re still alive”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, November 14, 2021, 6:29 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1459891238384115722. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT Employees were not pleased:
…
April 13, 2022, Exhibit B, sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/ 000110465922045641/tm2212748d1_sc13da.htm. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “I made an offer”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, April 14, 2022, 7:23 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1514564966564651008. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “No one believes this is
…
on-musks-twitter-offer-190442334.html. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT Prince Alwaleed bin Talal: Kateryna Kadabshy and Brandon Sapienza, “Billionaire Prince Alwaleed Rejects Elon Musk’s Twitter Bid,” Bloomberg.com, April 14, 2022, bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-14/billionaire-prince-alwaleed-rejects-musk-s-twitter-bid?sref=
…
Exchange Commission, November 5, 2013, sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/ 000119312522120474/d310843ddefa14a.htm. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Free speech is the bedrock”: “Elon Musk to Acquire Twitter,” Securities and Exchange Commission, exhibit 99.1, sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/ 000119312522117720/d319190dex991.htm. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT
…
playing a game”: Dewayne Perkins, Twitter post, April 21, 2022, 9:20 p.m., twitter.com/DewaynePerkins/status/1517312377573679105. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Elon Musk was able”: Dividend Hero, Twitter post, April 25, 2022, 7:58 a.m., twitter.com/HeroDividend/status/1518559997478813700. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Can
…
Elon R. Musk, X Holdings I, Inc., Complaint, in the United States District Court for the State of Delaware, documentcloud.org/documents/22084462-twitter-v-elon-musk-complaint. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “The longer the merger transaction”: Rebecca Kern, “Judge Sets Expedited Twitter v. Musk Trial for October,” Politico,
…
20, 2022, washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/20/musk-twitter-acquisition-staff-cuts/. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT a coffee, microwaved please: Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2023). GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “I saw [Musk] as the guy”: Esther Crawford, Twitter post, July 26, 2023,
…
IN TEXT “Who’s critical?” they asked: Zoë Schiffer, Casey Newton, and Alex Heath, “Extremely Hardcore,” New York, January 17, 2023, nymag.com/intelligencer/article/elon-musk-twitter-takeover.html. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “We envisioned a world”: Amir Shevat, “Developer Platforms Are All About Trust, and Twitter Lost It
…
2022, pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/16/5-facts-about-twitter-lurkers. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, November 1, 2022, 10:16 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1587498907336118274. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “I wasn’t really thinking
…
, Twitter post, November 5, 2022, 11:59 a.m., twitter.com/esthercrawford/status/1588969361976741888. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “I just killed it”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, November 9, 2022, 11:38 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1590383366213611522. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “I predict that over time
…
post, November 9, 2022, 8:12 p.m., twitter.com/sarahjeong/status/1590512775385976832. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT Musk claimed impressions on hate speech: Elon Musk, Twitter post, December 2, 2022, 1:53 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598752139278532610. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT an article that cited
…
, theinformation.com/articles/musks-twitter-saw-revenue-drop-35-in-q4-sharply-below-projections. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “until there is high confidence”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, November 21, 2022, 8:11 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1594861031670820864. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Apple has mostly stopped
…
, 2022, macrumors.com/2022/11/20/phil-schiller-deactivates-twitter-account. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT private data of Twitter Blue subscribers: Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “This is the attitude”: Jay Peters, “Geohot Resigns from Twitter,” The Verge, December 20, 2022, theverge.com/2022/
…
12/20/23519922/george-hotz-geohot-twitter-internship-resigns. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Sure, let’s talk”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, November 16, 2022, 3:23 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1592976585858351105. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT The hacker believed: “Transcript for
…
Beckett, Twitter post, May 23, 2023, 12:57 a.m., twitter.com/dajobe/status/1660872612837466112. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “This will be awesome”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, December 2, 2022, 3:48 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598781280015073281. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT potentially explosive front-page story
…
Binder, Twitter post, December 24, 2022, 10:48 a.m., twitter.com/MattBinder/status/1606723471475605505. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Same doxxing rules apply”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, December 15, 2022, 6:12 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1603573725978275841. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “You’re a citizen”: NowThis
…
, 2022, cnn.com/2022/09/12/tech/twitter-data-center-california-heat-wave/index.html. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Even after I disconnected”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, December 24, 2022, 7:15 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1606624671100997634. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT PART III: MAIN CHARACTER
…
post, July 31, 2022, 9:40 p.m., twitter.com/AlexanderMcCoy4/status/1553918627581149185. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT The CEO had 124 million followers: Elon Musk, Twitter profile, web.archive.org/web/20230102031613/twitter.com/elonmusk. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT the typical daily view count: Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy
…
February 14, 2023, 12:11 a.m., https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1625407245218648065. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “The ‘source’ of the bogus Platformer”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, February 17, 2023, 5:05 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1626523188149764096. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT explosive report detailing alleged privacy
…
Twitter post, April 14, 2023, 8:19 p.m., twitter.com/SFBARTalert/status/1647031817889783812. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Sunlight is the best disinfectant”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, May 3, 2022, 3:35 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1521574200183566338. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “I made peace”: Esther Crawford
…
Houghton, Twitter post, March 7, 2023, 9:42 a.m, twitter.com/danielhoughton/status/1633115945534214145. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT video call with Thorleifsson: Elon Musk, Twitter post, March 7, 2023, 5:58 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1633240643727138824. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT In contrast, Meta employees: Mark
…
Division, July 3, 2023, fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/akveqdzngvr/EMPLOYMENT_TWITTER_ARBITRATION_complaint.pdf. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “Should be fixed now”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, February 17, 2023, 6:06 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1626538656487059460. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “the whole Sacramento shutdown”:
…
Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2023). GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT the sixth major outage: Casey Newton and Zoë Schiffer, “How a Single Engineer Brought
…
, “ ‘Sometimes Things Break’: Twitter Outages Are on the Rise,” The New York Times, February 29, 2023, nytimes.com/2023/02/28/technology/twitter-outages-elon-musk.html. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “employees who purchased shares”: Zoë Schiffer, “The Secret List of Twitter VIPs Getting Boosted over Everyone Else,” Platformer
…
Twitter post, May 13, 2023, web.archive.org/web/20230513210815/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/165742240175425946. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “The choice is”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, May 13, 2023, 12:27 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1657422401754259461. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “What Wikipedia did”: Jimmy Wales
…
on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, US House of Representatives, “The Weaponization of the Federal Trade Commission: An Agency’s Overreach to Harass Elon Musk’s Twitter,” March 7, 2023, judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Weaponization_Select_Subcommittee_Report_on_FTC
…
TEXT “Twitter is essentially following”: Charlie Warzel, “Twitter Is a Far-Right Social Network,” The Atlantic, May 23, 2023, theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/05/elon-musk-ron-desantis-2024-twitter/674149/. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT an “uncancelable” free speech alternative: Todd Spangler, “Parler Shut Down by New Owner: ‘A
…
Tucker Carlson, Twitter post, May 9 2023, 4:42 p.m., twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1656037032538390530. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “On this platform”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, May 9 2023, 7:31 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1656079504778092544. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT David Sacks, Musk’s longtime
…
Boreing, Twitter post, June 1, 2023, 8:59 a.m., twitter.com/JeremyDBoreing/status/1664255339309531139. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “This was a mistake”: Elon Musk, Twitter post, June 1, 2023, twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1664324213023424531. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT people who’d seen the tweet: Daniel Chaitin, “ ‘What
…
Times, June 29, 2023, nytimes.com/2023/06/29/technology/twitter-ceo-linda-yaccarino.html. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT start sharing ad revenue: Elon Musk, Twitter post, February 3, 2023, 11:21 a.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1621544497388875777. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT Gigi Hadid deleted: Alyssa
…
Crawford, Twitter post, July 1, 2023, 4:90 p.m., twitter.com/esthercrawford/status/1675235246365880321. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “the reason I set”: Elon Musk (Parody), Twitter post, July 1, 2023, 3:21 p.m., twitter.com/ElonMuskAOC/status/1675268446089773056. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “effects on advertising”: “
…
8, 2023, washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/08/israel-hamas-disinfo-musk-twitter-x/. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT his preferred news-vetting methodology: Elon Musk, Twitter post, February 21, 2023, 3:30 p.m., twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1628175431315644419. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT “This is an old
…
Ben Goggin “Inside X’s Community Notes, Fact-Checks on Known Misinformation Are Delayed for Days,” NBC News, October 10, 2023, nbcnews.com/tech/misinformation/elon-musk-x-fact-check-israel-misinformation-rcna119658. GO TO NOTE REFERENCE IN TEXT EU regulators opened an inquiry: European Commision, “The Commission Sends Request for Information
by Jacob Silverman · 9 Oct 2025 · 312pp · 103,645 words
government power, personal and private interests. In about five months on the campaign trail and six months in office as a “special government employee,” Elon Musk enacted an extraordinary degree of disruption, becoming a dominant political force during what I believed to be America’s slide into authoritarianism. The MAGA-tech
…
Chinese invasion. In short, he spoke like a full-blooded Republican, and he developed the requisite alliances. Silicon Valley figures with right-wing sympathies—especially Elon Musk and David Sacks—loved him. It seemed to me this was a step-change in American politics. Once, corporate titans built libraries, museums, and universities
…
transphobic, bigoted, and wackily conspiratorial. Part of this book’s project is to explain how and why that happened.  As this book’s subtitle implies, Elon Musk is at the heart of this right-wing radicalization overtaking America’s business class. During the 2020 election cycle, Musk sounded, at least in public
…
homelessness and criminal justice reform. They funneled money to right-wing politicians and bloggers trying to breathe life into the phony bigotry of race science. Elon Musk and his venture-capitalist buddies led a political revolt that at times included a rejection of basic democratic governance. On X, Musk expressed his
…
than about some vague menacing notion of “wokeness,” with each viral story about overwrought identity politics adding fuel to a fire that only grew on Elon Musk’s X. Along with directing huge flows of investment money, often solicited from Middle Eastern dictatorships—such as the Saudi cash which helped with
…
catalyze an authoritarian shift that was years in the making. 3 Tech Libertarians Embrace the Security State This new political reality didn’t start with Elon Musk or Peter Thiel or the 2016 election. Beyond the personal computer and smartphones, the history of Silicon Valley is just as much the history
…
friends and business partners. (Women are typically underrepresented at this echelon of the tech-finance power structure.) Three of the key figures in this book—Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks—spent parts of their youth in apartheid South Africa, where they belonged to the privileged white minority in one
…
about class involving people who, since they stand atop the economic pyramid, don’t wish to acknowledge its existence. This became practically a tic for Elon Musk, who despite his incredible wealth, adopted the same mantle of false populism worn by Donald Trump and other social-media-addicted billionaires. They may
…
course, only one person’s attention really mattered, and the biotech mogul turned political firebrand got it. The top reply to the post was from Elon Musk, who had this to say: “True.” Fiery political-media operative Andrew Breitbart was famously devoted to the idea that “politics is downstream of culture.”
…
the royal family, like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Through his Kingdom Holding Company, Prince Alwaleed had interests in businesses like Lyft and Snapchat. And until Elon Musk came along, he was Twitter’s largest outside shareholder. In March 2018, six months before the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, MBS visited the United
…
successful encounter. Oprah would get a tweeted photo of herself with the crown prince; the meeting with “prominent political donors” would go unphotographed. With Elon Musk, MBS would tour a Hyperloop model—a proposed rapid-transport system using pressurized pods—and offer the following “key message”: “This is a very exciting
…
prophet of urban decline, describing a formerly thriving city undone by crime- and drug-loving Democrats. With his sizable following on X, his friendship with Elon Musk, and his popular podcast All-In, which he hosted with fellow tech investors Jason Calacanis, Chamath Palihapitiya, and David Friedberg, Sacks became a tech celebrity
…
Working Model The political battles playing out in San Francisco would mirror ones playing out in Miami, Austin, and nationally during the 2024 presidential election. Elon Musk’s ruthless purge of Twitter’s staff and David Sacks’ reactionary campaigns against liberal Democrats would be replicated in various political arenas—including, eventually, the
…
to shape their public image, maintain advantages in business, keep privileged information secret, or to exercise control over others. The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk required partygoers to sign NDAs at events where he allegedly consumed drugs like LSD and ketamine.5 Similar stories abound for entertainment-industry celebrities engaging
…
was deserved and virtuous not because of some specious notion of hard work or innovation but because they were leading humanity to a brighter future. “Elon Musk is projected to become world’s first trillionaire,” posted Doge Designer, one of the Musk-centered accounts that the billionaire frequently quoted. “He said
…
On May 24, 2023, Florida governor Ron DeSantis officially announced his entry into the race for the Republican presidential nomination in that disastrous appearance on Elon Musk’s Twitter Spaces discussed earlier. Spaces is an audio chat space where masses of people could listen to speakers and digitally raise their hands to
…
Chinese invasion of Taiwan. In this heady atmosphere, US tech executives styled themselves as hardened national-security experts. Helberg was one of them. So were Elon Musk and David Sacks, especially with their interest in Ukraine. In Musk’s case, it was at least partly a financial interest, with his Starlink
…
the SEC’s crackdown on crypto fraud and securities law violations were unacceptable breaches of norms. It wasn’t just venture capitalists, tech executives, and Elon Musk who were putting their wealth behind Trump. The libertarian-minded cryptocurrency industry was dominating that cycle’s political giving. The industry’s super PACs were
…
future of infinite abundance. One of his popular mantras went: “We wanted flying cars, we got 140 characters.” (Thiel’s friend and PayPal colleague Elon Musk fixed that issue by doubling X’s character limit.) The éminence grise of the powerful network of investors and executives known informally as the PayPal
…
and shell companies could be traced to their ultimate beneficiaries. My attention kept returning to X’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, which started long before Elon Musk acquired the company and persisted under his ownership. It was about more than Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the major company shareholder and billionaire Saudi industrialist
…
interest of self-preservation and avoiding expensive legal settlements, would never acknowledge its own negligence or potential liability. Twitter might have become X, buttressed by Elon Musk’s militant devotion to free speech, but the Saudi government ownership and influence remained—indeed, appeared more prominent than ever. The new company’s army
…
bad information, AI-generated fakes, and bad-faith hysteria about crime and migrants; infiltrated by authoritarian foreign governments; presided over practically 24/7 by Elon Musk—this ridiculous, debauched platform was one of the most powerful media tools that a power-hungry mogul could ever have in his political arsenal. And
…
trans youth and the healthcare programs that served them.18 Musk’s ability to disrupt Americans’ lives would be vast. It sounded like Shadow President Elon Musk. We had never seen the American plutocracy operate quite like this. The richest person in the world spent the homestretch of the 2024 presidential
…
dismissed as an aberration, but a second victory, after everything that had happened, would signal that something fundamental had changed in the political firmament. Elon Musk, David Sacks, and Marc Andreessen watched the election returns come in alongside Trump at Mar-a-Lago.3 Musk left early, already certain that Trump
…
an unmitigated triumph. “Trump will fill his top ranks with billionaires, former CEOs, tech leaders and loyalists,” Axios reported two days after the election. “Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, David Sacks, Joe Lonsdale and other tech leaders are helping pick staff and drive policies to quickly expand AI, crypto and other business
…
frontiers.”8 They had unfettered power and influence. They were going to make so much money. The stock market and cryptocurrencies surged. Elon Musk’s estimated worth passed the $300 billion mark.9 According to one calculation, the world’s ten richest people added $64 billion to their
…
away licenses from media organizations they resented. They wanted to prosecute advertisers for engaging in a supposed criminal conspiracy by choosing not to advertise on Elon Musk’s X. They wanted an end to all regulatory and legal investigations that might harm their interests. They wanted personal liberty, so they elected
…
the presidency. Other members of Thiel’s network would find jobs throughout the administration and the military and intelligence apparatus. His companies would surely prosper. Elon Musk, Thiel’s friend and former PayPal colleague, was acting as the potential dictatorial CEO figure that Curtis Yarvin had forecast as an American savior who
…
Lago, receiving high-level briefings, advising on presidential appointments, and sitting in on calls with world leaders. Trump’s family took to calling him Uncle Elon. Musk vowed that his America PAC would stay in business, spending big in the midterm elections and supporting challengers to Republican politicians who were not sufficiently
…
Trump and Musk. Offering them his polite support, Ramaswamy officially bowed out of the administration to run for governor in his home state of Ohio. Elon Musk was the shadow president—or perhaps simply the president, at least until his 130-day term as a “special government employee” was up. Perhaps
…
rut of societal stagnation, decline, corruption, and mistrust. But we would have to find a way to build that world. For now, we live in Elon Musk’s. Acknowledgements Thank you to Liz and the kids, Harry, Scott, Loretta, Gary, Rachel, the ghosts of my grandparents, Adam Chandler, Tomasz Hoskins and
…
. Finally, with special gratitude, thank you to those who cannot be named. Notes introduction 1 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/world/europe/elon-musk-roman-salute-nazi.html 2 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/27/us/politics/vivek-ramaswamy-wealth.html 3 https://www.oilandgas360.com/edenver22-strive
…
Is2MyuUfz9h-KyqnILRrcCL9A7N-RM0VFyG7Bp 11 https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/15/twitter-journalists-suspended-musk/ 12 https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/23/business/elon-musk-nazi-jokes/index.html 13 https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/musk-holocaust-public-workers-union-1235296401/ 14 https://www.france24.com/en/live
…
25 https://apnews.com/article/twitter-musk-texas-mall-shooting-misleading-claims-c297797d1eb0f708cc84d05e0735d8cc 26 https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/05/16/george-soros-elon-musk-adl/ 27 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1724908287471272299?s=20 28 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1527748229470646272 29 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1527774704018280448 30
…
california-for-texas/ 4 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/the-stanford-undergraduate-and-the-mentor.html 5 https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1 6 https://ciceroinstitute.org/issues/homelessness/ 7 https://blog.joelonsdale.com/p/banning-street-camping-gets-people 8 https://nypost.com/
…
school-vouchers/ 21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcDiN5gIrNo 22 https://fortune.com/2024/11/09/timothy-mellon-net-worth-top-donor-trump-campaign-elon-musk/ 23 https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/vivek-ramaswamy-flip-flops-tiktok-rcna105062 24 https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-
…
teslas-fremont-car-factory-blockbuster-racism-lawsuit-to-go-before-a-jury-next-year/ 13 https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/04/03/tesla-racism-lawsuit-elon-musks-firm-to-pay-3-2-million-after-137-million-award-tossed/ 14 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1854791544374804784 15 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/
…
mean-hardship-for-americans-rcna177807 26 https://x.com/PirateWires/status/1856517841916145756 https://archive.ph/hTScX 27 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/14/politics/elon-musk-doge-trump/index.html 28 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-announces-musk-and-ramaswamy-will-lead-outside-advisory-group-department-of-government-efficiency
…
nbcnews.com/business/economy/economy-if-trump-wins-second-term-could-mean-hardship-for-americans-rcna177807 30 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/14/politics/elon-musk-doge-trump/index.html 31 https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/musk-putin-secret-conversations-37e1c187 32 https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1579941475613229056?lang=
…
(CFTC) here, here, here conspiracism/conspiracy theories here, here, here, here and the Cicero Institute here and Joe Lonsdale here and Maguire here and Elon Musk here, here and Sovereign Citizen here and Twitter here, here, here conspiracy and Sam Bankman-Fried here, here, here, here and James Beeks here and
…
, here, here DeSantis, Ron here, here and the “1776 Returns” document here and CBDCs here on cryptocurrency here and Disney here homeless law here and Elon Musk here, here and David Sacks here and Twitter here digital currencies here, here, here, here disinformation here, here, here, here, here Disney here, here,
…
, René here Glacier Ventures here Google here and AI here, here and defense tech here governance here government contracts here, here, here, here, here and Elon Musk here Palantir here Qwest here Gracias, Antonio here, here, here, here Grants Pass (OR) here Great Replacement Theory here, here Greenberg, Joel here Greene,
…
Marjorie Taylor here Griffin, Ken here, here GrowSF here, here Groypers here, here Hamilton family here Harris, Kamala here, here, here, here Elon Musk on here Hashemi, Nader here, here Helberg, Jacob here and defense tech here, here and national security here and TikTok here, here and Donald Trump
…
to Florida here and PayPal here racism here, here, here, here anti-white here and the Great Replacement Theory here Jean-Marie Le Pen here Elon Musk on here and the “Nextdoor Election” here and South Africa here Tesla lawsuit here Raichik, Chaya here Ramaswamy, Vivek here, here, here on assassination
…
Valley Bank (SVB) here Singh, Nishad here Snailbrook (TX) here Solano County (CA) here Soros, George here, here, here, here and Duran here, here Elon Musk on here and Vivek Ramaswamy here Soros Foundation here South Africa here Southern District of New York’s District Attorney’s Office here, here Sovereign
…
assassination attempts here and cryptocurrency here, here Bitcoin here, here, here and the Hill and Valley Forum here meeting with tech industry executives here and Elon Musk here, here and David Sacks here and Saudi Arabia here and the SEC here and Peter Thiel here, here, here, here, here, here and
by Eric Berger · 23 Sep 2024 · 375pp · 113,230 words
now Reentry, capture the story of perhaps the world’s most remarkable and ambitious corporate endeavor, led by an exceptionally bold and accomplished visionary in Elon Musk. These works take the reader on a behind-the-scenes journey through SpaceX’s highs and lows, the flaws, failures, and world-changing accomplishments.” —Jared
…
Isaacman, commander of the first all-civilian spaceflight “Ever wonder how Elon Musk and SpaceX have managed to single-handedly disrupt the entrenched and all-powerful aerospace industry in record time? Eric Berger takes us inside the meeting
…
critical addition to humanity’s historical record.” —Andy Lapsa, cofounder and CEO of Stoke Space Also by Eric Berger Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days that Launched SpaceX REENTRY SPACEX, ELON MUSK, AND THE REUSABLE ROCKETS THAT LAUNCHED A SECOND SPACE AGE ERIC BERGER BenBella Books, Inc. Dallas, TX Reentry copyright © 2024
…
life, ready to burst into the sky above and noisily proclaim a new era of spaceflight. This was Starship. After two decades of relentless toil, Elon Musk had pushed and cajoled and bullied and single-mindedly driven SpaceX to the precipice of history. His company had launched hundreds of rockets. But Starship
…
just might get there, it is critical to understand how its people built the future. This is their story. It is also the story of Elon Musk and his outsized spaceflight ambitions. Moments after Starship broke apart in the sky, a conflagration of another sort broke out online. His critics seized on
…
asked his mother if the Sun had exploded. Those who had actually heard of the SpaceX test site wanted to know just what the hell Elon Musk and his rocket company thought they were doing in the middle of the night. Even as Mueller and his propulsion team basked in the glow
…
-SQUARED AND THE AMOS-6 DISASTER February 2009 McLean, Virginia Matt Desch thought he might be able to squeeze a few extra bucks out of Elon Musk. So after summoning his best negotiating skills, Desch telephoned the SpaceX founder in early 2009. The chief executive of a satellite company named Iridium, Desch
…
fired, at least in part for their involvement with the open letter. The message was crystal clear: to work for SpaceX meant to work for Elon Musk. The company and the man, for better or worse, were inseparable. “This thing better look like a goddamn beehive 24/7.” In the weeks following
…
single-lane, paved road just inside the Launch Complex 39A fence line. It drove directly up a ramp, onto the launch pad. When it stopped, Elon Musk and his five children tumbled out, walking right up to the base of the titanic Falcon Heavy rocket. Sunlight glinted off its three lambent white
…
the threat of SpaceX early on and delayed reacting in a meaningful way for too long. By the early 2020s, however, these facts were ineluctable. Elon Musk and his rocket company now stand alone, atop the hierarchy of spaceflight. SpaceX launched nearly 100 rockets in 2023, about the same total as the
…
the Falcon 9, destiny beckoned. EPILOGUE Four days after astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley triumphantly splashed into the Gulf of Mexico in August 2020, Elon Musk hit send on a companywide email. Though Dragon had barely been lifted from the water, it was time to pivot. “Please consider the top SpaceX
…
January 2009. | PHOTO CREDIT: ROGER CARLSON All of the elements of the first flight-ready Falcon 9 rocket in February 2010. | PHOTO CREDIT: ROGER CARLSON Elon Musk and Chris Thompson in the Falcon 9 flight one control room. | PHOTO CREDIT: ROGER CARLSON Party on the Cocoa Beach pier after Falcon 9 flight
…
Space Center. | PHOTO CREDIT: NASA Bob Behnken, left, and Doug Hurley inside Crew Dragon during training. | PHOTO CREDIT: NASA SpaceX investor Steve Jurvetson, left, with Elon Musk at the McGregor Dairy Queen. | PHOTO CREDIT: STEVE JURVETSON The Falcon 9 used for flight six, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2013, with the
…
and made their indelible mark on the Falcon 9 and Dragon programs. I thank them all. For this book I had far less access to Elon Musk and current employees at SpaceX. Musk said he was eager to participate, but every time we got close to an interview it would be canceled
by Anna Crowley Redding · 1 Jul 2019 · 190pp · 46,977 words
older, going through a divorce, had five kids, and was running two impossibly challenging companies, and whom she now loved very much. Meet the Musks Elon Musk and Talulah Riley at the 2012 Environmental Awards. (Photo by Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com.) NAME: Talulah Riley DATE OF BIRTH: September 26, 1985 HOMETOWN
…
Elon and his critics and the media filled into Elon’s Twitter feed. That snowballed into more bad coverage. Headlines read: ELON MUSK’S MEDIA MELTDOWN; ELON MUSK LASHES OUT AT MEDIA, AGAIN; ELON MUSK’S SILLY WAR WITH THE MEDIA; and more. While tweeting, Elon proposed a solution: Pravduh, an online rating of journalists
…
P. Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots Is Boldly Privatizing Space. New York: Smithsonian Books, 2007. Bloomberg Risk Takers. “Elon Musk: How I Became the Real ‘Iron Man.’” 10 June 2014. YouTube video, 44:59. youtu.be/mh45igK4Esw. Boring Company. “The Chicago Express Loop.” www.
…
“The Boring Company Information Session.” Los Angeles, 17 May 2018. YouTube video, 57:55. youtu.be/AwX9G38vdCE. _____. Interview by Alison van Diggelen. “An Evening with Elon Musk.” Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA, 23 Jan. 2013. YouTube video, 1:16:51. youtu.be/AHHwXUm3iIg. _____. Interview by Chris Anderson. “The Future We’
…
: ‘Everything Feels like the Future but Us.’” Guardian (Manchester, England), 18 May 2017. www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/18/tesla-workers-factory-conditions-elon-musk. Zhao, Helen. “California Workplace Safety Agency Opens Probe into Tesla.” CNBC, 18 April 2018. www.cnbc.com/2018/04/18/california-workplace-safety-agency
…
.ag/03j. ENDNOTES 1. Vance, Elon Musk, p. 31. 2. Vance, p. 32. 3. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 4. Elon Musk, interview by van Diggelen. 5. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 6. Friend, “Plugged In.” 7. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 8. Vance, p. 24. 9. Vance, p. 33. 10. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 11. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 12. Elon Musk, interview by Neil deGrasse Tyson. 13
…
. Vance, p. 38. 14. Vance, p. 38. 15. Vance, p. 38. 16. Elon Musk
…
, interview by Neil deGrasse Tyson. 17. Vance, p. 37 18. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 19. Vance, p. 37. 20. Vance, p. 37. 21. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 22. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 23. Strauss, “Elon Musk
…
.” 24. Junod, “Elon Musk
…
.” 25. Junod, “Elon Musk.” 26. Elon Musk and Kimbal Musk, interview by Jeff Skoll. 27
…
. Friend, “Plugged In.” 28. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 29. Belfiore, Rocketeers
…
, p. 171. 30. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 31. Elon Musk, interview by Neil deGrasse Tyson. 32. Elon Musk, interview
…
by Tyson. 33. Vance, Elon Musk, p. 46.
…
34. Vance, p. 50. 35. Vance, p. 48. 36. Vance, p. 47 37. Vance, p. 77. 38. Vance, p. 53. 39. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 40. Elon Musk, interview by Khan. 41. Elon Musk, interview by Khan. 42. Elon Musk, interview
…
by Khan. 43. Elon Musk and Kimbal Musk, interview by Jeff Skoll. 44. Musk and Musk, interview. 45. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 46. Junod, “Elon Musk.” 47. Musk and Musk, interview by Jeff
…
Skoll. 55. Musk and Musk, interview by Jeff Skoll. 56. Musk and Musk, interview by Jeff Skoll. 57. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 58. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 59. Junod, “Elon Musk.” 60. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 61. Vance, p. 96 62. Vance, p. 95. 63. Kimbal Musk, interview
…
by Susan Adams. 64. Musk and Musk, interview by Jeff Skoll. 65. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 66. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 67. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 68. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 69. Elon Musk, interview
…
by Sal Khan. 70. Elon Musk, interview by Sarah Lacy. 71. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 72. Junod, “Elon Musk.” 73. Elon Musk, interview by Sarah Lacy. 74. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 75. Elon Musk, interview by
…
Sal Khan. 76. Junod, “Elon Musk.” 77. Elon Musk, interview by
…
Sal Khan. 78. SpaceX.com/about 79. Elon Musk,
…
interview by Sarah Lacy. 80. Shotwell, interview by Chris Anderson. “SpaceX’s Plan to Fly.” 81. Junod, “Elon Musk.” 82. Paris Productions, “EV1 Funeral.” 83. Elon Musk
…
, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 84. Elon Musk
…
, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 85. Elon Musk, interview by
…
Alison van Diggelen. 86. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 87. Elon Musk,
…
interview by Sarah Lacy. 88. Elon Musk, interview by Kevin Rose. 89. Elon Musk, interview by Sarah Lacy. 90
…
’s High Speed Innovation.” 91. Vance, p. 148. 92. Rive, “Turning Toward the Sun.” 93. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 94. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 95. Elon Musk, interview by Joe Rogan. 96. Urban, “The Elon Musk Post Series.” 97. Gaiman, “What Was He Like?” 98. Vance, p. 140. 99. Justine Musk
…
p. 210. 117. Tesla Inc., www.tesla.com/autopilot. 118. Elon Musk, interview by Kevin Rose. 119. Elon Musk, interview by Sarah Lacy. 120. Elon Musk, interview by Sarah Lacy. 121. Elon Musk, interview by Sarah Lacy. 122. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 123. Elon Musk, “@rileytalulah.” 124. Elliott, “Elon Musk to Divorce.” 125. Tesla Motors Inc., “Tesla Model X Reveal.”
…
126. Oremus, “Romney Decides.” 127. Robertson, “Tesla Repays $465 Million.” 128. Bloomberg, “Elon Musk.” 129. Elon Musk, interview
…
by Chris Anderson. 130. Elon Musk, interview
…
by Alison van Diggelen. 131. D’Angelo, “SpaceX Makes History.” 132. Campbell, “SpaceX’s Successful Landing.” 133. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 134. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 135. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 136. Tarpenning, “Tesla’s High Speed Innovation.” 137. National Geographic, “
…
Exclusive: Watch Elon Musk.” 138. Chang, “First Private Craft.” 139. Elon Musk, interview by Alison van Diggelen. 140. Shotwell, “SpaceX’s Plan to Fly.” 141. Shotwell
…
365. 146. Elon Musk, interview by Chris Anderson. 147. Elon Musk, interview by Chris Anderson. 148. Elon Musk, “The Boring Company Information Session.” 149. Elon Musk, “The Boring Company Information Session.” 150. Elon Musk, “The Boring Company Information Session.” 151. Elon Musk, interview by Chris Anderson. 152. Elon Musk, “The Boring Company Information Session.” 153. Elon Musk, “The Boring Company Information Session.” 154. Elon Musk, interview by
…
Joe Rogan. 155. Brooks, Spaceballs. 156. Elon Musk, interview
…
158. Emanuel, “Boring Company Chicago O’Hare.” 159. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 160. Elon Musk, interview by Sal Khan. 161. Elon Musk, “The Boring Company Information Session.” 162. Elon Musk, interview by Chris Anderson. 163. Elon Musk, “The Boring Company Information Session.” 164. Vance, p. 43. 165. Strauss, “Elon Musk.” 166. Paine, Do You Trust This Computer? 167.
…
? 173. Elon Musk, interview by Joe Rogan. 174. Neuralink, www.neuralink.com. 175. Elon Musk, interview by Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi. 176. Elon Musk, interview by Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi. 177. Elon Musk, interview by Chris Anderson. 178. CBS News, “Tesla CEO Elon Musk.” 179. Wong, “Tesla Factory Workers Reveal Pain.” 180. Elon Musk, “What’s actually amazing.” 181. Elon Musk, “Am
…
considering taking Tesla.” 182. Elon Musk, interview by Chris Anderson. 183. Elon Musk, interview
…
BIT Your Backyard Pyramid Dig In Extra Loopy Ad Astra Chapter 13 DANGER Cyborg XPRIZE Chapter 14 PRODUCTION HELL The Future Chapter 15 GENIUS BOY Elon Musk Bibliography Endnotes Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright A FEIWEL AND FRIENDS BOOK An Imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC 120 Broadway, New York,
by Christian Davenport · 20 Mar 2018 · 390pp · 108,171 words
(or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Davenport, Christian, author. Title: The space barons : Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the quest to colonize the cosmos/Christian Davenport. Description: First edition. | New York : PublicAffairs, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN
…
headquarters outside Los Angeles on this evening just before Christmas 2015 cheered it just as their rivals at Blue Origin had done—and then some. Elon Musk watched the rocket reappear from outside on a causeway. Then, he sprinted back into the control room to see the image of the rocket standing
…
step in a race that was only just beginning. TIMELINE September 2000 Jeff Bezos founds Blue Operations LLC, the precursor to Blue Origin. March 2002 Elon Musk incorporates Space Exploration Technologies. December 2003 First powered flight of SpaceShipOne. December 2003 Musk shows off the Falcon 1 rocket in Washington, DC. September 2004
…
it. “Well, you’re talking to the man who owns it,” the city manager said. Cantrell told him that he worked for a man named Elon Musk, who had made a lot of money on the Internet and had started a company called Space Exploration Technologies. Never heard of him, the city
…
culture. Imagine rough—well, it’s rougher than that. Kids gave Elon a very hard time, and it had a huge impact on his life.” Elon Musk fled South Africa after high school when he was seventeen. First, he went to live with relatives in Canada, where he enrolled in Queen’s
…
hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight—to send a signal about the importance of what he planned to accomplish. The same day that Elon Musk was parading his Falcon 1 rocket down Independence Avenue in Washington, DC, Rutan was getting ready for the first powered flight of the spaceplane he
…
participants had to get along. They were trying to figure out how to start a new industry. At least they had a place to meet. Elon Musk had graciously offered to host the meeting at SpaceX’s El Segundo factory. Even though he was still far from being a household name, he
…
of the program, but because it was already well under development. Walker, the program manager, had never heard of the company SpaceX, or its founder, Elon Musk. But once he saw Musk’s plan to develop a rocket that could launch extremely inexpensively, he wanted to know more about this Internet tycoon
…
ridiculously long; the work, challenging. It was great for young, energetic, and brilliant workaholics, but not so great for those seeking a “work-life balance.” Elon Musk was demanding and known to yell at employees on the middle of the factory floor. A former executive at Lockheed who got to know Musk
…
eccentric billionaire who had started a space company from scratch with absolutely no experience with rockets, but talked about colonizing Mars—a wild card named Elon Musk, who was now on an improbable, but epic, roll. THE FALCON 9 had flown successfully. And SpaceX was moving ahead with developing a more robust
…
NASA administrators in Houston. At SpaceX’s headquarters just outside of Los Angeles, employees broke into raucous applause, chanting their boss’s name, “We love Elon!” Musk was now developing a cultlike following, and SpaceX had swelled to more than two thousand employees with an average age of thirty, with $4 billion
…
it!” THE F-1 TEAM wasn’t the only space-related award of the evening. The president of the Explorers Club had become fascinated with Elon Musk, and what he was accomplishing in space, and had decided to present him with a special President’s Award. As an image of Musk in
…
injured. And it was only a test, one that SpaceX stressed “was particularly complex, pushing the limits of the vehicle further than any previous test.” Elon Musk even had coined an acronym for such spectacular failures: RUD, or rapid unscheduled disassembly. But it was also a reminder that for all the advancements
…
-Be-with-You ritual, a curbside tent party with costumed storm troopers, Han Solos and Yodas. Behind the locked doors, their Yoda was getting ready. Elon Musk wanted to get the details right. This was his big moment, and he wasn’t going to rush it. For months, he’d been teasing
…
. With the Ansari X Prize, Allen had been at the vanguard of the commercial space movement, which was now dominated by his fellow billionaire tycoons—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Branson, all of whom were pushing ahead with their own plans, showing it could be done. Allen wanted back in the game
…
were gone. A race past even their own imaginations, deep into the cosmos, to a point in the beyond where there was no finish line. Elon Musk unveils the version of the Dragon spacecraft designed to fly astronauts at an event at SpaceX’s headquarters, 2014. Courtesy of NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis. Jeff
…
front of SpaceShipOne after Binnie successfully flew the spacecraft in 2004, winning the Ansari X Prize. Copyright © Mojave Aerospace Ventures LLC; courtesy of Scaled Composites. Elon Musk gives President Barack Obama a tour of SpaceX launchpad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 2010. Courtesy of NASA/Bill Ingalls. Paul Allen speaks as
…
airplane ever flown. It is designed to “air launch” as many as three rockets. Copyright © Stratolaunch Corporation. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The four billionaires featured in this book—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Paul Allen—all run multiple companies and have huge demands on their time. So, I’m grateful that all of
…
the dozens of interviews I conducted for this book, my research depended on many texts, a few of which merit specific mention: Ashlee Vance’s Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Brad Stone’s The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, and Julian Guthrie
…
Announce That It Is Ceasing All Business Operations Effective October 23, 2000.” “Our parents had no idea”: Tom Junod, “Elon Musk: Triumph of His Will,” Esquire, November 14, 2012. “I thought the Internet”: Elon Musk, “The Future of Energy and Transport,” Oxford Martin School, Oxford University, November 14, 2012. “Well, I don’t think
…
you’ll be coming back”: Elon Musk, “Stanford University Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders” lecture, October 8, 2003. “The online financial payment system”: Ibid. Given the size of the rock: https://www.youtube.com/
…
watch?v=xaW4Ol3_M1o. “We were both interested”: Junod, “Elon Musk.” “Because, of course”: Elon Musk, “Mars Pioneer Award” acceptance speech, 15th Annual International Mars Society Convention, August 4, 2012. “I just did not want Apollo”: Pat Morrison Q
…
& A with Elon Musk, “Space Case,” Los Angeles Times, August 1, 2012. As a winged spaceplane: Elon Musk, Stanford lecture. Space was still the exclusive: For more on SpaceX’s early days, see Ashlee Vance
…
, “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,” Ecco, May 19, 2015. On March 14, 2002, Musk founded: Ibid. At the dawn of the
…
Conflicts?” Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2004. “We do everything”: Ibid. “Northrop wasn’t expecting us”: Ibid. As a kid in South Africa: Ashlee Vance, “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,” Ecco, May 19, 2015, 40. “I’ve never heard”: Renae Merle, “U.S. Strips Boeing of
…
York Times, February 5, 2006. The failures were so frequent: Vance, Elon Musk, 124. “I tell folks”: Sandra Sanchez, “SpaceX: Blasting into the Future—A Waco Today Interview with Elon Musk,” Waco Tribune, December 22, 2011. Early on, Musk pegged: Megan Geuss, “Elon Musk Tells BBC He Thought Tesla, SpaceX ‘Had a 10% Chance at Success
…
, 1985. Branson’s version of space: Paul Allen, Idea Man (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2011), 243. 7. THE RISK “The United States is a distillation”: Elon Musk, “Mars Pioneer Award” acceptance speech, 15th Annual International Mars Society Convention, 2012. As a guidebook pointed out: David Goodman, Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast
…
had always had a bit: Kerry A. Dolan, “How to Raise a Billionaire: An Interview with Elon Musk’s Father, Errol Musk,” Forbes, July 12, 2015. His maternal grandparents: “Tesla and SpaceX: Elon Musk’s Industrial Empire,” Segment Extra, “Elon Musk on His Family History,” 60 Minutes, March 30, 2014. “There is something particularly”: Fay Goldie
…
Orbit,” Reuters, July 14, 2009. Looking back on it: Michael Griffin, NASA Oral History Project, January 12, 2013. “I’m going to watch”: Carl Hoffman, “Elon Musk Is Betting His Fortune on a Mission Beyond Earth’s Orbit,” Wired, May 22, 2007. “This was a pretty nerve-racking”: Tariq Malik, “SpaceX’s
…
. “We wanted to keep”: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-making-of-the-apollo-11-mission-patch. And when the NASA officials: “Tesla and SpaceX: Elon Musk’s Industrial Empire,” 60 Minutes, March 30, 2014. Goddard was derided: “Apollo 11: How America Won the Race to the Moon,” Associated Press, August 21
…
don’t”: Marcia Dunn, “PayPal Millionaire’s Rocket Making 1st Test Flight,” Associated Press, June 3, 2010. “A dramatic launch failure”: Andy Pasztor, “Space Pioneer Elon Musk Faces Big Risks with Upcoming Launch,” Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2010. Eventually a reporter: Andy Pasztor, “Amazon Chief’s Spaceship Misfires,” Wall Street Journal
…
Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Competitive Procurement,” US Government Accountability Office, March 4, 2014, http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/661330.pdf. “Musk is”: Aaron Mehta, “Elon Musk on Russian Assassins, Lockheed Martin, and Going to Mars,” Defense News, June 10, 2014, http://intercepts.defensenews.com/2014/06
…
-russian-assassins-lockheed-martin-and-going-to-mars/. “Our toughest competitor”: Ibid. “SpaceX is trying to cut”: Christian Davenport, “ULA Chief Accuses Elon Musk’s SpaceX of Trying to ‘Cut Corners,’” Washington Post, June 18, 2014. 208 “It’s kind of the best”: Joel Achenbach, “Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin
…
a NASA slide showed: Jeff Foust, “Progress Anomaly Strains Space Station Supply Lines,” SpaceNews, April 28, 2015. “The vast majority of people”: Christian Davenport, “Hearing Elon Musk Explain Why His Rocket Just Blew Up Shows Why He’s Such an Intense CEO,” Washington Post, June 20, 2015. 13. “THE EAGLE HAS LANDED
…
, “The Inside Story of How Billionaires Are Racing to Take You to Outer Space,” Washington Post, August 19, 2016. As Musk once said: Carl Hoffman, “Elon Musk Is Betting His Fortune on a Mission Beyond Earth Orbit,” Wired, May 22, 2007. SpaceX compared it to: “X Marks the Spot: Falcon 9 Attempts
…
/2014/12/16/x-marks-spot-falcon-9-attempts-ocean-platform-landing. “Well, at least we got close”: Christian Davenport, “After SpaceX Sticks Its Landing, Elon Musk Talks About a City on Mars,” Washington Post, December 22, 2015. “It really quite dramatically”: Ibid. The National Transportation Safety Board: NTSB press release, “Lack
…
, John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 77–78. 14. MARS “Essentially what we’re saying”: Christian Davenport, “Elon Musk Provides New Details on His ‘Mind Blowing’ Mission to Mars,” Washington Post, June 10, 2016. “So,” he said, “how do we figure out”: “Making Humans
…
suddenly: Christian Davenport, “Implication of Sabotage Adds Intrigue to SpaceX Investigation,” Washington Post, September 30, 2016. But it was also all a bit: Christian Davenport, “Elon Musk on Mariachi Bands, Zero-G Games, and Why His Mars Plan Is Like ‘Battlestar Galactica,’” Washington Post, September 28, 2016. If Musk were going to
…
: Opportunity Nears to Reassess Launch Vehicle and Ground Systems Cost and Schedule,” US Government Accountability Office, July 2016. “His job is to provide”: Christian Davenport, “Elon Musk Offers Glimpse of Plans to Deliver Humans to Mars,” Washington Post, September 27, 2016. “There’s so much interest”: Christian Davenport, “Why Investors Are Following
by Ashlee Vance · 18 May 2015 · 370pp · 129,096 words
PHOTOGRAPHIC INSERT 7 ALL ELECTRIC 8 PAIN, SUFFERING, AND SURVIVAL 9 LIFTOFF 10 THE REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR 11 THE UNIFIED FIELD THEORY OF ELON MUSK EPILOGUE APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTES ABOUT THE AUTHOR ALSO BY ASHLEE VANCE CREDITS COPYRIGHT ABOUT THE PUBLISHER 1 ELON’S WORLD
…
DO YOU THINK I’M INSANE?” This question came from Elon Musk near the very end of a long dinner we shared at a high-end seafood restaurant in Silicon Valley. I’d gotten to the restaurant
…
to make his judgment. A split second later, we shook hands and Musk drove off in a red Tesla Model S sedan. ANY STUDY OF ELON MUSK must begin at the headquarters of SpaceX, in Hawthorne, California—a suburb of Los Angeles located a few miles from Los Angeles International Airport. It
…
-down shops, and run-down eateries surround huge, industrial complexes that appear to have been built during some kind of architectural Boring Rectangle movement. Did Elon Musk really stick his company in the middle of this dreck? Then, okay, things start to make more sense when you see one 550,000-square
…
between good and evil is anything but amazing. A boy who takes these fantasies seriously is more remarkable. Such was the case with the young Elon Musk. By the middle of his teenage years, Musk had blended fantasy and reality to the point that they were hard to separate in his mind
…
. South Africa, by contrast, presented far less opportunity for an entrepreneurial soul. As Kimbal put it, “South Africa was like a prison for someone like Elon.” Musk’s opportunity to flee arrived with a change in the law that allowed Maye to pass her Canadian citizenship to her children. Musk immediately began
…
set out to prove his point with what would end up being even more dramatic results. 5 PAYPAL MAFIA BOSS THE SALE OF ZIP2 INFUSED ELON MUSK WITH A NEW BRAND OF CONFIDENCE. Much like the video-game characters he adored, Musk had leveled up. He had solved Silicon Valley and become
…
fit. “I came very close to dying,” Musk said. “That’s my lesson for taking a vacation: vacations will kill you.” 6 MICE IN SPACE ELON MUSK TURNED THIRTY IN JUNE 2001, and the birthday hit him hard. “I’m no longer a child prodigy,” he told Justine, only half joking. That
…
, and invitations to the usual characters had been mailed out. What stunned Robert Zubrin, the head of the group, was the reply from someone named Elon Musk, whom no one could remember inviting. “He gave us a check for five thousand dollars,” Zubrin said. “That made everyone take notice.” Zubrin began researching
…
the size of a six-car garage. The two men were fiddling around with the eighty-pound engine when Garvey mentioned that a guy named Elon Musk might be stopping by. The amateur rocketry scene is tight, and it was Cantrell who recommended that Musk check out Garvey’s workshop and see
…
interest in what Straubel was selling. Investors dealt him one rejection after another for months on end. Then, in the fall of 2003, Straubel met Elon Musk. Harold Rosen had set up a lunch with Musk at a seafood restaurant near the SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles and brought Straubel along to
…
would be their first milestone and give them something physical to show off, which could aid a second round of funding. Eberhard and Tarpenning had Elon Musk’s name in the back of their heads as a possible lead investor from the outset. They had both seen him speak a couple of
…
ideas of a big man who shook up industries and did things his own way. Downey heard some rumblings about a Hughes-like figure named Elon Musk who had constructed his own, modern-day industrial complex about ten miles away. Instead of visualizing how life might have been for Hughes, Downey could
…
the willingness to spend vast sums of money on spaceships and electric cars, which came across as a combination of daring, flamboyant, and downright flabbergasting. “Elon Musk has been called ‘part playboy, part space cowboy,’ an image hardly dispelled by a car collection that has boasted a Porsche 911 Turbo, 1967 Series
…
—poof—it’s gone. Only a cynical dullard could come away from witnessing this feeling anything other than wonder at what man can accomplish. For Elon Musk, this spectacle has turned into a familiar experience. SpaceX has metamorphosed from the joke of the aeronautics industry into one of its most consistent operators
…
Tesla’s share price and that General Motors, among other automakers, pulled together a team to study the Model S, Tesla, and the methods of Elon Musk. It’s worth pausing for a moment to meditate on what Tesla had accomplished. Musk had set out to make an electric car that did
…
went on sale, Tesla had posted a profit, hit $562 million in quarterly revenue, raised its sales forecast, and become as valuable as Mazda Motor. Elon Musk had built the automotive equivalent of the iPhone. And car executives in Detroit, Japan, and Germany had only their crappy ads to watch as they
…
was the willingness to charge after its vision without compromise, a complete commitment to execute to Musk’s standards. 11 THE UNIFIED FIELD THEORY OF ELON MUSK THE RIVE BROTHERS USED TO BE LIKE A TECHNOLOGY GANG. In the late 1990s, they would jump on skateboards and zip around the streets of
…
and asking if they needed any help managing their computing systems. The young men, who had all grown up in South Africa with their cousin Elon Musk, soon decided there must be an easier way to hawk their technology smarts than going door-to-door. They wrote some software that allowed them
…
much government funding and too many incentives to create a viable market. Much of this criticism was fair. It’s just that there was this Elon Musk guy hanging around who seemed to have figured something out that everyone else had missed. “We had a blanket rule against investing in clean-tech
…
to prove that the technology could work. Some people had their fun with all of this. “Billionaire unveils imaginary space train,” teased Valleywag. “We love Elon Musk’s nutso determination—there was certainly a time when electric cars and private space flight seemed silly, too. But what’s sillier is treating this
…
well, that would be the case. If my wife and I have a bunch of kids, she would probably stay with them on Earth.” EPILOGUE ELON MUSK IS A BODY THAT REMAINS VERY MUCH IN MOTION. By the time this book reaches your hands, it’s quite possible that Musk and SpaceX
…
in 1995 for his doctorate work in physics. “Based on the information you provided, we are unable to locate a record in our office for Elon Musk,” wrote the director of graduate admissions. When asked during the case to produce a document verifying Musk’s enrollment at Stanford, Musk’s attorney declined
…
and the fees associated with transactions are low. These are all good things. Why aren’t they doing this? It’s mad.” APPENDIX 3 From: Elon Musk Date: June 7, 2013, 12:43:06 AM PDT To: All <All@spacex.com> Subject: Going Public Per my recent comments, I am increasingly concerned
…
one shaped like a rocket. In 2011, he also received a lot of grief from the Wall Street Journal for having a high-end camp. “Elon Musk, chief executive of electric-car maker Tesla Motors and co-founder of eBay Inc.’s PayPal unit, is among those eschewing the tent life,” the
…
, Stanford, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, San Jose, San Francisco CREDITS COVER DESIGN BY ALLISON SALTZMAN COVER PHOTOGRAPH © BY ART STREIBER/AUGUST COPYRIGHT ELON MUSK. Copyright © 2015 by Ashlee Vance. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted
by Tim Higgins · 2 Aug 2021 · 430pp · 135,418 words
: Hitandrun Media @ Début Art Cover design by John Fontana Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Higgins, Tim (Journalist), author. Title: Power play : Tesla, Elon Musk, and the bet of the century / Tim Higgins. Description: First edition. | New York : Doubleday, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references. | Identifiers: LCCN 2020048532 (print) | LCCN 2020048533 (
…
Red Tidings Epilogue A Note from the Author Acknowledgments Notes PROLOGUE THE BEGINNING On a breezy night in March 2016 at the Tesla design studio, Elon Musk took the stage in front of a crowd of supporters. Dressed like a James Bond villain, in a black jacket with the collar up,
…
have not gone bankrupt: Ford—and Tesla. * * * — So you’d pretty much have to be delusional to enter such a competition; which some think Elon Musk is. But he hasn’t shrunk from the challenge. Instead he has willed himself and his company to where the lofty visions of Silicon Valley
…
his hubris be his undoing? Amid the controversial figures to have emerged from Silicon Valley in recent years, you couldn’t help but wonder: Is Elon Musk an underdog, an antihero, a con man, or some combination of the three? PART I A REALLY EXPENSIVE CAR CHAPTER 1 THIS TIME COULD
…
deferred to his colleague. CHAPTER 5 MR. TESLA “Elon is the perfect investor,” Martin Eberhard had confided to a colleague during the honeymoon period with Elon Musk. In the early days, Musk seemed to think highly of Eberhard too, showering him with praise. “The number of great product people in the
…
time for new leadership. Their conflict pointed at yet another rift taking shape. When Eberhard had brought his idea for an electric sports car to Elon Musk, they had seemingly shared a vision for what the company might become. But with each hard-won milestone, the company’s—and Musk’s—
…
their normal pay of between $200,000 and almost $2 million. CHAPTER 8 EATING GLASS When he was a kid growing up in South Africa, Elon Musk’s mother called him Encyclopedia after his reading habits and ability to absorb information. “We could ask him anything,” she’d later write. “Remember,
…
own statement that the ruling was “consistent with Tesla’s belief in a team of founders, including the company’s current CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk, [and] Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, who were both fundamental to the creation of Tesla from inception.” In private, some cautioned circumspection. Michael Marks,
…
invented in house. Straubel and his team packed their bags for a frustrated return to San Carlos. * * * — “I don’t have time for this,” Elon Musk bellowed. “I’ve got to launch the fucking rocket!” And with that he stormed out of the glass conference room at SpaceX, abruptly ending a
…
. Tesla’s weekly sales of Roadsters numbered in the handful. Zak Edson, director of product planning, was presenting the results at Tesla’s headquarters as Elon Musk looked over the figures. “Sales suck,” Musk said. “They don’t just suck—sales suck monkey dick.” The group tried to swallow their laughter.
…
estate business, he was accustomed to unsolicited offers, typically from local shopping centers. Brown persisted, though, and one of her emails caught his attention: “Elon Musk would like to speak to you about the things you did at Apple. Please give me a call.” Blankenship called, was greeted by Brown, and
…
was a jolt compared to the pleasant weather in Hawthorne, California, where he had set up the automaker’s vehicle engineering operations to be near Elon Musk’s desk at SpaceX headquarters. Rawlinson and Musk faced twin challenges that called for close coordination. They were engineering a car from the ground
…
influence the company’s culture, would play a larger role in the success of the company than even the money would. When Akio Toyoda and Elon Musk celebrated an arrangement that included the two automakers working together on electric cars, the details remained far from complete. The idea was that the
…
learned and poured it straight into the Model S. * * * — Tucked away in a complex of industrial buildings next to the SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Elon Musk opened a new design studio for Tesla. He picked an old airplane hangar that had been converted into a basketball gym a few years earlier
…
the former Lexus factory manager who had served as a cultural bridge during the acquisition of the Fremont factory, and his deputy, Dag Reckhorn, whom Elon Musk hired for his experience working with aluminum. They had spent months haggling over what pieces of machinery Tesla would buy from Toyota and what would
…
, would later write about his experience: “What would have been deemed as unacceptable by any carmakers was seen as part of an ongoing process by Elon Musk who believed, rightly so, that the user experience of driving a truly innovative automobile would outweigh minor defects that will be eventually corrected.” * * * — As
…
on road trips. A similar network of so-called Supercharger stations was being deployed across major interstate highways in the U.S. Now, aboard Elon Musk’s private jet in 2013 on the way to Los Angeles, Straubel thought through the ramifications of his boss’s next ambitions for Tesla. Ever
…
to produce billions of batteries, it needed to enter a market where millions of buyers might help boost its sales. With George Blankenship’s departure, Elon Musk turned sales and service over to Jerome Guillen, a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, who had already proven himself
…
kind of flexibility Tesla would need in the future if it wanted to move beyond its niche. * * * — On a breezy March night in 2016, Elon Musk, Doug Field, Jon McNeill, and the other senior leadership stood backstage at the Tesla design studio, where hundreds of customers and supporters waited for a
…
we just became a real car company,” he wrote. What should have been a time of celebration quickly turned into the ugliest public spectacle in Elon Musk and Tesla history. CHAPTER 26 TWITTER HURRICANES As Tesla workers wearily marked their production milestone at Fremont, Musk landed in Portugal just in time
…
Fossi continues to write about Tesla, he would sue him and drag Rahr into it. The next day, Fossi announced he was retiring his blog: “Elon Musk has won this round. He has silenced a critic.” * * * — As the Twitter winds swirled, Tesla’s executives kept their heads down. They had met
…
months trying to get the Model 3 out—nearly missing his brother’s wedding, spending his birthday on the factory floor. The resulting headline read “Elon Musk Details ‘Excruciating’ Personal Toll of Tesla Turmoil.” It described him as emotional, having “choked up multiple times” during the interview. He talked of his
…
there were a million Nikola Teslas? he asked. Musk said things would have advanced very quickly. Right, Rogan added, but there’s not a million Elon Musks. “There’s one motherfucker,” Rogan said. “Do you think about that?” Musk checked his phone. “You getting text messages from chicks?” Rogan asked. No,
…
of April 2020 proved wrong. Months later, he announced on Twitter that he had tested positive. A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR Popular myth is that Elon Musk, sleeping on the factory floor, willed Tesla into being. His determination and stubbornness surely played a big part in the company’s rise and
…
me—dogged reporters who have covered Tesla over the years and blazed a trail for me to follow. Ashlee Vance wrote the definitive biography of Elon Musk. Dana Hull, Lora Kolodny, Kirsten Korosec, Edward Niedermeyer, Alan Ohnsman, Susan Pulliam, Mike Ramsey, and Owen Thomas are among those journalists who broke some
…
by the author. “Why the fuck”: Michael V. Copeland, “Tesla’s Wild Ride,” Fortune (July 21, 2008), https://fortune.com/2008/07/21/tesla-elon-musk-electric-car-motors/. He suggested being vague: Details taken from emails between the men reviewed by the author. Musk fired them: Michael V. Copeland, “Tesla
…
by author. “If this is true”: Michael V. Copeland, “Tesla’s Wild Ride,” Fortune, July 21, 2008, https://fortune.com/2008/07/21/tesla-elon-musk-electric-car-motors. He calculated that the cost: Tim Watkins’s declaration filed with California court on June 29, 2009. “Martin seems to be focused
…
complained: Author interviews with people involved with the funding plan. “We either do this”: Author interviews with Tesla workers at the time. Reclaiming the narrative: Elon Musk, “Extraordinary times require focus,” company blog (Oct. 15, 2008). “I actually talked a close friend”: Owen Thomas, “Tesla Motors Has $9 Million in the
…
https://play.acast.com/s/howididit/investorjasoncalacanis-howiwasbroke-thenrich-thenbroke-andnowhave-100million. There were other: Ibid. “Elon, looks like”: Ibid. but, as Musk: Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (New York: HarperCollins, 2015), 157. Musk suspected the delay: Ibid. To stoke their competitive juices: Ibid
…
Justine Musk, “I Was a Starter Wife,” Marie Claire (Sept. 10, 2010), https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-starter-wife. The practical effect: Elon Musk, “Correcting the Record About My Divorce,” Business Insider (July 8, 2010), https://www.businessinsider.com/correcting-the-record-about-my-divorce-2010-7. Looking for
…
Jonathan Gol, et al., “Valor and Tesla Motors,” University of Chicago case study (2017), https://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/-/media/faculty/steven-kaplan/research/valortesla.pdf. “Elon Musk would like”: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, “From Gap to the Electric Car: Tesla’s George Blankenship,” Green Car Reports (Nov. 24, 2010), https://www.greencarreports.com
…
Tesla manager. “What would have been deemed”: Philippe Chain and Frederic Filloux, “How Tesla Cracked the Code of Automobile Innovation.” “They presented a better face”: Elon Musk’s appearance recorded by C-Span (Sept. 29, 2011), https://www.c-span.org/video/?301817-1/future-human-space-flight. CHAPTER 15 If Tesla
…
,” Consumer Reports (July 2013), https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2013/07/tesla-model-s-review/index.htm. Musk’s relationship with Blankenship: Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (New York: HarperCollins, 2015), 216. “For Tesla to succeed”: Author interview with Blankenship. He had
…
quietly reached: Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk, 217. CHAPTER 16 But their innovations: Author interviews with people familiar with Akerson’s thinking. The first fire occurred: Tom Krisher and Mike Baker, “Tesla
…
same-london-club-weeks-after-miami-sighting/. “Lack of sleep”: Author interview with former Tesla executive. Among the first: Tim Higgins and Dana Hull, “Want Elon Musk to Hire You at Tesla? Work for Apple,” Bloomberg Businessweek (Feb. 2, 2015). Many knew that Musk: Interviews with Tesla employees at the time,
…
“You are now working”: Charles Duhigg, “Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk: Life Inside Tesla’s Production Hell,” Wired (Dec. 13, 2018), https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-tesla-life-inside-gigafactory/. If a critical workstation: Author interviews. Musk told him to: Claim laid out in a federal lawsuit against Tesla filed in
…
taken on June 4, 2019. Wheeler’s team calculated: Presentation presented to the Tesla board of directors, dated July 24, 2016. “We are going to”: Elon Musk deposition taken on Aug. 24, 2019. “Latest feedback from major”: Emails reviewed by the author. It wasn’t foolproof: Author interviews with Tesla engineers. They
…
. “He’s always pitching”: Video of interview posted on Business Insider’s website on Feb. 21, 2018: https://www.businessinsider.com/jim-chanos-tesla-elon-musk-truck-video-2018-2. He thought: Details from Martin Tripp deposition taken as part of litigation between him and Musk. She kept a schedule: Sarah
…
over the Weekend as He Was ‘Scrounging for Investors,’ ” Business Insider (Aug. 13, 2018), https://www.businessinsider.com/azealia-banks-claims-to-be-at-elon-musks-house-as-he-sought-investors-2018-8. “Don’t they have something”: Email exchange reviewed by the author. From LA: Liz Hoffman and Tim Higgins
…
Pennsylvania: Author interviews with former Tesla executives. They were warmly received: Author interviews with Tesla managers from that period. Bloomberg Businessweek: Matthew Campbell et al., “Elon Musk Loves China, and China Loves Him Back—For Now,” Bloomberg Businessweek (Jan. 13, 2021), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-01-13/china-loves
…
-tsla-how-long-will-that-last?sref=PRBlrg7S. He proposed an idea: Author interview with a Tesla manager familiar with the trip. “Traffic is driving”: Elon Musk said on Twitter (Dec. 17, 2016), twitter.com/elonmusk/status/810108760010043392?s=20. As things dragged into 2018: Bruce Einhorn, et al., “Tesla’s
…
www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-seeks-rent-savings-amid-coronavirus-crunch-11586823630. “Over the past week”: Jeremy C. Owens, Claudia Assis, and Max A. Cherney, “Elon Musk vs. Bay Area Officials: These Emails Show What Happened Behind the Scenes in the Tesla Factory Fight,” MarketWatch (May 29, 2020), https://www.marketwatch.com
…
/story/elon-musk-vs-bay-area-officials-these-emails-show-what-happened-behind-the-scenes-in-the-tesla-factory-fight-2020-05-29. “Frankly this is the final
…
”: Tim Higgins, “Tesla Files Lawsuit in Bid to Reopen Fremont Factory,” Wall Street Journal (May 10, 2020), https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-threatens-authorities-over-mandated-tesla-factory-shutdown-11589046681. “I will be on the line”: Rebecca Ballhaus and Tim Higgins, “Trump Calls for California to Let
…
Circle,” The Wall Street Journal, (Feb. 19, 2021), https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-tesla-made-it-to-the-winners-circle-11613739634. “This is very”: Elon Musk told author in an email on May 7, 2020. “I’ve never met”: Scarlet Fu, “Chanos Reduces ‘Painful’ Tesla Short, Tells Musk ‘Job Well
…
Done,’ ” Bloomberg News (Dec. 3, 2020), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-03/tesla-bear-jim-chanos-says-he-d-tell-elon-musk-job-well-done?sref=PRBlrg7S. What’s next on your reading list? Discover your next great read! Get personalized book picks and up-to-date
by Eric Berger · 2 Mar 2021 · 304pp · 89,879 words
Goulash Index Photo Section About the Author Copyright About the Publisher Prologue September 14, 2019 A fat, red sun sank into the Texas horizon as Elon Musk bounded toward a silvery spaceship. Reaching its concrete landing pad, Musk marveled up at the stainless steel, steampunk contraption looming above, which shone brilliantly in
…
tank that had fed propellant to a Raptor rocket engine. “It’s in remarkably good shape considering we had an inferno in there,” he said. Elon Musk traveled a long road to reach these plains rolling down to the Gulf of Mexico. In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX with the intention of eventually
…
SpaceX had only just begun to cut metal on its first rocket. Although its inaugural launch remained a few years away, the firm’s founder, Elon Musk, had already taken the first step toward Mars. He understood he would go nowhere without the right people. So interview by interview, Musk sought out
…
employee number fourteen at SpaceX. The story of SpaceX begins toward the end of the year 2000, on the other side of the United States. Elon Musk was driving on the Long Island Expressway with a friend and fellow entrepreneur named Adeo Ressi, shortly after PayPal’s board of directors had ousted
…
right person, but, he said, “Nobody who seemed to be good would join, and there was no point in hiring somebody who wasn’t good.” Elon Musk assumed the role of chief engineer himself. He also liked Cantrell, thinking the smooth-talking engineer could serve as the chief of business development for
…
, harsh, reflective, and a stickler for the finest details of rocket science. But most of all, he channeled a preternatural force to move things forward. Elon Musk just wants to get shit done. The engineers sitting in those seats around the conference table had to possess a certain amount of mania, too
…
feed the engine. They had nicknamed their booster “BFR,” short for Big Fucking Rocket. In January 2002, Garvey told Mueller that an internet millionaire named Elon Musk wanted to come by and meet him that weekend, and see their amateur engine. Mueller didn’t think much of it until Musk and his
…
phone and called Mango at his desk in Alabama. To Mango, the call came out of nowhere. After the caller identified himself as someone named Elon Musk, he proceeded to explain in his slightly foreign accent that he was a millionaire who had sold his interest in PayPal and gotten into the
…
suffered a similar fate, limping along for a few years before selling its intellectual property rights to SpaceDev, a subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation. When Elon Musk showed up at Vandenberg a decade later, some of the Air Force graybeards thought they knew pretty much what to expect from this private company
…
no tables, so everyone just sat in a circle,” he said. “It was a beautiful night, and a sad night.” In moments of high tension, Elon Musk often tries to break the stress with laughter. Musk has a rollicking wit. He will say something funny, realize it is funny, and iterate on
…
not quite quench her thirst for making a difference. Deep inside, Shotwell knew she had more to offer the world. So the idea of selling Elon Musk’s unproven rocket, and working for someone regarded as a demanding boss, did not faze her. “I knew the business by then,” she said. “I
…
Boeing, did, too. They now had a monopoly on national security launches for the next decade, along with guaranteed profits. Everyone was happy—except for Elon Musk. He sued in U.S. District Court to stop the merger, arguing that SpaceX should be allowed to compete for these missions. While it was
…
of its biggest rivals in the launch industry, gone against the Air Force with the proposed United Launch Alliance merger, and protested a NASA contract. Elon Musk was not walking on eggshells on the way to orbit. He was breaking a lot of eggs. This, of course, made life difficult for Shotwell
…
and stylish clothes. And it was her time to show the good old boys how it was done. | 6 | Flight Two March 2006–March 2007 Elon Musk recognized the extraordinary demands he placed on SpaceX’s early hires. He therefore decided to reward employees who spent the majority of 2004 traveling to
…
, with a shiny Falcon 1 rocket in tow—transfixed Dunn. This was the future. He knew what he must do. He would go and help Elon Musk build rockets to change the world. Only by early 2005, SpaceX was nearly three years old. The company was already preparing for its first launch
…
of them stripped. The warm water beckoned. | 11 | Always Go to Eleven September 2008–May 2020 After sinking six years and $100 million into SpaceX, Elon Musk finally had a real rocket. Only a handful of countries had ever built a liquid-fueled booster and launched it into orbit before. With the
…
Ocean. For eight years, the company had scrabbled to make ends meet, struggling to put rockets into orbit, and nearly dying on several occasions. For Elon Musk and SpaceX’s rapidly growing workforce that night, those failures were behind them. Overhead, their rocket soared among the stars. Below, waves dashed against the
…
Mars,” he said. “Not even close,” I replied. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Not even close. It’s a goddamn outrage.” This is the passion that fires Elon Musk, and impels him to drive his teams forward every single day. Decisions in his world come down to a simple calculus: Will this get humans
…
SpaceX had done. The chief executive of United Launch Alliance, Tory Bruno, sent Shotwell flowers in congratulations. They have proven to be quite a pair, Elon Musk and Gwynne Shotwell. She understood the industry he wanted to change. And when he pushed for that change, she helped guide him and stood by
…
did not believe the Mars stuff in the beginning. “I kind of ignored it,” she said. “I wasn’t even bought in.” She is today. ELON MUSK, Founder And what of the ringmaster? Since the early years of his rocket company, Musk has ascended from semi-anonymous dot-com millionaire status to
…
2016 to build machines that can interface directly with the human brain, and he formed a company to dig tunnels beneath congested cities. In short, Elon Musk had a lot on his mind when I nudged his memories back to the tiny island of Omelek. He wanted to help. Musk understands the
…
telling the story in full, or to allow an author free rein inside SpaceX to speak with employees about the company’s formative years. But Elon Musk wanted me to talk to everyone for this book. And he meant it. “It was a high-drama situation,” he said of launching rockets from
…
from those who toiled on Kwaj to make the impossible possible. For this experience I have many people to thank. The list must start with Elon Musk. When I first proposed this book idea in early 2019, he eagerly agreed. His message to me was that I should talk to everyone. With
…
if it was not. I love you; and this book is for you, for always believing in me. Key SpaceX Employees from 2002 to 2008 ELON MUSK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mary Beth Brown, assistant TOM MUELLER, VICE PRESIDENT OF PROPULSION Jeremy Hollman, director of propulsion development Dean Ono, director of in-space
…
David Giger, Flight One mission manager BOB REAGAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF MACHINING OPERATIONS BRANDEN SPIKES, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Timeline 2002 MAY 6 SpaceX founded by Elon Musk OCTOBER 31 First gas generator full-duration test-firing (Mojave, California) 2003 MARCH 11 First Merlin engine thrust chamber firing (McGregor, Texas) MAY 31 SpaceX
…
) Bigej Island, just south of Omelek, is where the SpaceX team would sometimes stop for a swim on their way home from work. (Hans Koenigsmann) Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, tours Cape Canaveral with President Barack Obama in 2010. (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Gwynne Shotwell, right, was instrumental in making the
…
Omelek. (Hans Koenigsmann) A C-17 aircraft flies by Omelek Island during the Flight One campaign after delivering an emergency shipment of LOX. (Tim Buzza) Elon Musk, center top, with the Flight One launch team and Air Force officials prior to launch. (Tim Buzza) Collecting the wreckage after Flight One. (Hans Koenigsmann
…
) A solemn Elon Musk surveys debris collected after Flight One. (Hans Koenigsmann) Kestrel engine with its expanded nozzle. (Hans Koenigsmann) Zach Dunn poses with a Merlin 1C rocket engine
…
the plane: Flo Li supports Zach Dunn as they work furiously after the Falcon 1 first stage implodes midflight. (Ron Gargiulo) The moment of truth: Elon Musk and Tom Mueller watch Flight Four from the Command Van. (SpaceX) It wasn’t all hard work: Departing Omelek on the Peregrine Falcon, it’s
by Ben Mezrich · 6 Nov 2023 · 279pp · 85,453 words
and character names have been altered at the request of my sources to protect privacy. This is not an authorized narrative of the events surrounding Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter—as was his wont, Elon chose not to respond to requests for his participation. I can only imagine that this
…
-up to one of the most important social media sites online, with an outsized imprint on culture, journalism, and politics. When the news of Elon Musk’s interest in the site first broke—on Twitter, of course—I was instantly intrigued. To me, Elon is one of the most complex characters
…
of Twitter’s main headquarters. Esther had her laptop open in front of her, the screen casting a cone of light across her porcelain skin. Elon Musk, hovering over her right shoulder, was in shadow, his wide, square face, impish eyes, and ever-present smirk barely lit by the fluorescent ceiling
…
what remained of it, along with him. PART ONE “I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.” —ELON MUSK CHAPTER ONE More Than Two Years Earlier, January 15, 2020 The George R. Brown Convention Center, downtown Houston, Texas. Spotlights danced over a packed auditorium
…
the center of the video call. The audience recognized the man, instantly identifiable, at the same moment, and an excited murmur moved through the auditorium. Elon Musk was one of Twitter’s biggest users, with over 30 million followers, and his tweets were a constant source of entertainment and controversy; at times
…
his molecules, he had the sudden feeling that something was heading his way. CHAPTER TWO March 25, 2022 A little after 1:30 a.m. Elon Musk, CEO and techno-king of Tesla, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX, founder of Neuralink and the Boring Company, soon to be the richest
…
his glasses and wiped at the smudges of humidity that had just formed across the lenses. According to the texts, news sites, and tweets, Elon Musk, currently the world’s richest man, had just filed with the SEC, effectively announcing that he had acquired a 9.5 percent stake in Twitter
…
uncomfortable with the lengths Twitter had gone to try to police its platform. Parag couldn’t be sure when Jack had first reached out to Elon Musk regarding his concerns about Twitter, but at least as far back as a year ago, Jack had been pushing the Twitter board to reach
…
least, that Yoel led with it, even as he hung up his phone and slipped the device back into the pocket of his skinny jeans. “Elon Musk,” he said, shaking his head. “This should be… interesting.” The pause told Jessica everything she needed to know. The billionaire—was he still a
…
aura. In marketing, she worked with a lot of CEOs, many big personalities, who were usually insulated from people with differing points of view. Elon Musk was a legendary businessman, but Twitter wasn’t a car company. It was a social media site, providing a platform for hundreds of millions of
…
that—he’d only bought a few billion dollars’ worth of shares. But still, it was hard not to wonder: What could a man like Elon Musk possibly want with Twitter? CHAPTER FIVE Boca Chica, Texas. It might have looked something like this: a hundred-thousand-acre compound of sand and
…
seemed like everyone had seen the news before he had; after opening Twitter, Slack, and his text app, he’d immediately understood the commotion. Elon Musk’s offer to take Twitter private had hit everyone by surprise. To Mark, the numbers had seemed insane—a 40 percent bump over the stock
…
sign that he understood that his background as an engineer, and his lack of experience in management, hadn’t prepared him for handling someone like Elon Musk. The way Mark saw it, Parag had already “managed” Elon into quitting the Twitter board, making an offer to take the company private, and
…
sustainable living, made by a company called Boxabl—fifty thousand dollars all in if you could get off the wait list, or happened to be Elon Musk, for whom there was no such thing as a wait list. Despite Elon’s initial impulse, he left the laptop open. It wasn’t
…
poison pill” share maneuver to keep Elon from taking over Twitter, now to fire off a lawsuit demanding he finish the job. In April 2022, Elon Musk entered into a binding merger agreement with Twitter, promising to use his best efforts to get the deal done. Now, less than three months later
…
, and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?” —ELON MUSK “The problem is that at a lot of big companies, process becomes a substitute for thinking. You’re encouraged to behave like a little gear
…
toward the front of the coffee shop just in time to see what had sucked all the attention out of the room. There he was, Elon Musk, moving quickly through the open space. He looked bigger in person than he seemed on TV, though he’d obviously lost weight. Back in
…
grinned at her and raised both thumbs up in the air. She laughed, then shrugged. It was impossible to know what was going on in Elon Musk’s head, but Esther had definitely taken her shot. She waited until nine p.m. to send the email, even though she’d been
…
revenue per employee 365B rev/154k employees = 2.37M… Twitter revenue per employee if 3k instead of 8k: 5B rev/3k employees -= 1.66 m…” Elon Musk: “Insane potential for improvement.” Jason Calacanis: “Sharpen your blades boys.” A little after 4 p.m., and the party was already in full swing.
…
the husband of the Speaker of the House: “There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye.” Elon Musk wasn’t some conspiracy theorist sitting in a dark corner of the internet. He was the new CEO of Twitter. When gently approached about the
…
inappropriate nature of the tweet, he’d responded that although he was the head of Twitter, he wasn’t going to stop tweeting as himself—Elon Musk, the person, not the CEO. Jessica knew this was an impossible stance. To the general public, he was now the face of Twitter. To
…
blue check? Fuck that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron. Then Elon seemed to get the message: @Elon Musk We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8? Just like that, Twitter Blue’s price shifted from
…
; he had chosen to leave. And that, to Elon, wasn’t simply a business decision. It was a betrayal. CHAPTER SIXTEEN November 16, 2022 Elon Musk 12:00 AM To Team: Going forward, to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world, we will need to
…
posting in the current age. Even so, dredged up, on its own, the tweet probably would have made little more than a ripple—had not Elon Musk, with his hundred and twenty million followers—not responded: This explains a lot. Then the billionaire had gone much further, following up with a
…
callers and anonymous, virulent texts, their lives upended by hate: hate speech, hate tweets, hate texts, hate calls, hate upon hate upon hate… While Elon Musk stood in the wings of a massive stage at the front of an even more massive arena, waiting for his cue, bouncing from one foot
…
take a damn joke? In real life, did it matter what a bunch of failing newspaper boomer pundits thought of him? IRL, he was still Elon Musk. Beloved, praised, applauded— His thoughts were interrupted by a voice from the stage, reverberating even louder than the noise from the audience. Dave Chappelle,
…
and glistening, like a water snake just beneath the surface of a stream. The driver skilled, professional; in the backseat, the most precious of cargo: Elon Musk’s two-year-old son, X. Maybe the driver was chatting with the toddler, maybe he was checking the GPS or the time, but eventually
…
driver; that he believed X’s mother, the pop star known as Grimes, had been communicating with him through coded messages in her Instagram; that Elon Musk was “monitoring his real-time location”; and that Musk was able to “control Uber Eats to block him from receiving delivery orders.” X’s
…
duel, cameras capturing each other in cones of flickering light, as their heated conversation rose up into the LA air… A short time later, Elon Musk was sitting in a dark conference room at Twitter headquarters, staring at his phone. Having just taken the sort of call that would leave any
…
the New York Times saw the suspensions as “questionable and unfortunate.” CNN added “impulsive and unjustified.” The Washington Post stated that the action “directly undermines Elon Musk’s claim that he intends to run a platform dedicated to free speech.” Melissa Fleming, the UN undersecretary-general for global communication, put it succinctly
…
to hang out with him. Although she was very close to her own kids, she knew that teenagers could be difficult. But this was Elon Musk, a man who made self-driving cars and rocket ships and flamethrowers, who dug tunnels under Las Vegas and was going to put a man
…
” and believed, with a start, that the two women were actually considering calling San Francisco law enforcement to ask for a wellness check. On Elon Musk. Elon had cut himself off from the rest of the company so thoroughly that the only way these two employees thought they could make sure
…
he would not be the same Elon who had walked through those front doors carrying a sink. The way Jessica saw it, Elon Musk didn’t break Twitter. Twitter broke Elon Musk. She wasn’t going to wait around for the billionaire, or what was left of the platform, to pick up the pieces
…
next afternoon, the problem would indeed be solved, in a particularly blunt manner. The engineers would rewrite Twitter’s code to emphasize any tweets by Elon Musk. Twitter’s vaunted “algorithm” would reportedly magnify tweets by Elon by “a factor of 1,000,” something Platformer would report was called “a power
…
user multiplier” that “only applies to Elon Musk.” Sitting on the edge of his couch in his darkened living room, staring at James Musk’s urgent Slack message, Mark could only shake his
…
Mezrich) Bringing Down the Mouse NOVELLAS Q NOTES CHAPTER TWO “I wanted my circumstances”: Tom Randall, Josh Eidelson, Dana Hull, and John Lippert, “Hell for Elon Musk Is a Midsize Sedan,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 12, 2018. CHAPTER THREE behind the wheel of one of three other vehicles: Harsh, “Car Collection of Ousted
…
, April 14, 2022. CHAPTER SEVEN A twenty-by-twenty prefab: Brittany Chang and Tim Levin, “See inside the $50,000, prefab tiny house that Elon Musk uses as a guest house in Texas,” Business Insider, August 5, 2022. CHAPTER NINE The message was from Leslie Berland: Zoe Schiffer, Casey Newton, and
…
Alex Heath, “Extremely Hardcore,” The Verge, January 17, 2023. Spiro was one of the top trial lawyers: Dan Adler, “How Alex Spiro Became Elon Musk’s (and Megan Thee Stallion’s and Jay-Z’s) Go-to-Lawyer,” Vanity Fair, March 6, 2023. CHAPTER TEN Jason Calacanis: “Back of the
…
envelope”: Elon Musk text exhibits, Exhibit H. Hardwood floors culled: Mae Rice, “Inside Twitter’s Fun and Functional San Francisco Headquarters,” builtinSF, February 18, 2020. She wasn’t
…
Edgett, Twitter’s lead legal counsel: Zoe Schiffer, Casey Newton, and Alex Heath, “Extremely Hardcore,” The Verge, January 17, 2023, https://www.theverge.com/23551060/elon-musk-twitter-takeover-layoffs-workplace-salute-emoji. Jessica was only familiar: Conger, Isaac, Mac, and Hsu, “Two Weeks of Chaos.” As would later be reported by
…
the Verge: Schiffer, Newton, and Heath, “Extremely Hardcore.” “Elon puts rockets into space”: Alex Heath, “Elon Musk is putting Twitter at risk of billions in fines, warns company lawyer,” The Verge, November 10, 2022. CHAPTER ELEVEN In fact, he’d given Robert
…
Kaiden: Kate Conger, Mike Isaac, Ryan Mac, and Tiffany Hsu, “Two Weeks of Chaos: Inside Elon Musk’s Takeover of Twitter,” New York Times, November 11, 2022. CHAPTER THIRTEEN “Devil’s Champion-Leather Armor Set”: Brock Colyar, “It Was a Real Wormy
…
Inside Heidi Klum’s Halloween Party,” USA Today, 11/1/2022. CHAPTER FOURTEEN over three hundred fake accounts: Dan Milmo, “Twitter Trolls Bombard Platform after Elon Musk Takeover,” Guardian, October 30, 2022. CHAPTER FIFTEEN Yoel would tell Kara Swisher: Informed Conference 2022, Knight Foundation, Kara Swisher and Yoel Roth, Session 10.
…
CHAPTER SIXTEEN “Let me be crystal clear”: Alex Heath, “Inside Elon Musk’s First Meeting with Twitter Employees,” The Verge, November 10, 2022. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Dressed entirely in black: Zoe Schiffer, Casey Newton, and Alex Heath, “Extremely
…
Hardcore,” The Verge, January 17, 2023, https://www.theverge.com/23551060/elon-musk-twitter-takeover-layoffs-workplace-salute-emoji. “This isn’t a right-wing takeover of Twitter”: Ibid. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN “I think one of the things that
…
is tricky about Elon”: Informed Conference 2022, Knight Foundation, Kara Swisher and Yoel Roth, Session 10. CHAPTER NINETEEN “Ladies and gentlemen”: “Elon Musk Tries to Tweet Through It after Getting Booed at Dave Chappelle Show,” Salon, December 12, 2022. CHAPTER TWENTY the billionaire had dissolved Yoel’s Trust
…
Taylor Lorenz, “Musk Blamed a Twitter Account for an Alleged Stalker, Police See No Link,” Washington Post, December 18, 2022. The truth was: Jack Sweeney, “Elon Musk Wanted to Buy My ElonJet Twitter Account—I’ve Named My Price,” Newsweek, November 3, 2022. “It’s impossible to square”: Rebecca Kern, “Musk Reinstates
…
Majority of Suspended Journalist Accounts,” Politico, December 17, 2022. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE Nearby stood the CEO: Pete Syme, “Elon Musk was photographed with the CEO of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund hours before asking followers if he should quit as Twitter boss,” Business Insider, December
…
21, 2022. A few seats over from Jared: Sanya Jain, “Elon Musk with Lakshmi Mittal in Viral Pic from FIFA World Cup Final,” MoneyControl, December 20, 2022. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE but many of Twitter’s big-name
…
to Return to Twitter despite Musk’s Claims,” Search Engine Land, April 14, 2023. Even more surprising, the message: Zoe Schiffer and Casey Newton, “Yes, Elon Musk Created a Special System for Showing You All His Tweets First,” The Verge, February 14, 2023. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX However, a Slack employee: Casey Newton
by Kurt Wagner · 20 Feb 2024 · 332pp · 127,754 words
by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac · 17 Sep 2024
by Tim Fernholz · 20 Mar 2018 · 328pp · 96,141 words
by Hamish McKenzie · 30 Sep 2017 · 307pp · 90,634 words
by Jimmy Soni · 22 Feb 2022 · 505pp · 161,581 words
by Edward Niedermeyer · 14 Sep 2019 · 328pp · 90,677 words
by Christian Davenport · 6 Sep 2025 · 441pp · 127,950 words
by Nate Silver · 12 Aug 2024 · 848pp · 227,015 words
by Ashlee Vance · 8 May 2023 · 558pp · 175,965 words
by Ozan Varol · 13 Apr 2020 · 389pp · 112,319 words
by Cade Metz · 15 Mar 2021 · 414pp · 109,622 words
by Keach Hagey · 19 May 2025 · 439pp · 125,379 words
by Karen Hao · 19 May 2025 · 660pp · 179,531 words
by Adam Becker · 14 Jun 2025 · 381pp · 119,533 words
by Nicolas Niarchos · 20 Jan 2026 · 654pp · 170,150 words
by Max Chafkin · 14 Sep 2021 · 524pp · 130,909 words
by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler · 28 Jan 2020 · 501pp · 114,888 words
by Rod Pyle · 2 Jan 2019 · 352pp · 87,930 words
by Eric M. Jackson · 15 Jan 2004 · 398pp · 108,889 words
by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith · 6 Nov 2023 · 490pp · 132,502 words
by Parmy Olson · 284pp · 96,087 words
by Ernest Scheyder · 30 Jan 2024 · 355pp · 133,726 words
by Nicole Kobie · 3 Jul 2024 · 348pp · 119,358 words
by Gabrielle Bluestone · 5 Apr 2021 · 329pp · 100,162 words
by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler · 3 Feb 2015 · 368pp · 96,825 words
by Paris Marx · 4 Jul 2022 · 295pp · 81,861 words
by Ben Mezrich · 6 Sep 2021 · 239pp · 74,845 words
by Henry Sanderson · 12 Sep 2022 · 292pp · 87,720 words
by Brad Stone · 10 May 2021 · 569pp · 156,139 words
by Joseph N. Pelton · 5 Nov 2016 · 321pp · 89,109 words
by Julian Guthrie · 19 Sep 2016
by Robert Zubrin · 30 Apr 2019 · 452pp · 126,310 words
by Andrew McAfee · 14 Nov 2023 · 381pp · 113,173 words
by Benjamin Wallace · 18 Mar 2025 · 431pp · 116,274 words
by Chris Hayes · 28 Jan 2025 · 359pp · 100,761 words
by W. David Marx · 18 Nov 2025 · 642pp · 142,332 words
by William Poundstone · 3 Jun 2019 · 283pp · 81,376 words
by Levi Tillemann · 20 Jan 2015 · 431pp · 107,868 words
by Martin Ford · 16 Nov 2018 · 586pp · 186,548 words
by Shane Snow · 8 Sep 2014 · 278pp · 70,416 words
by Varun Sivaram · 2 Mar 2018 · 469pp · 132,438 words
by Stephen Petranek · 6 Jul 2015 · 70pp · 22,172 words
by Bill McKibben · 15 Apr 2019
by Temple Grandin, Ph.d. · 11 Oct 2022
by Douglas Rushkoff · 7 Sep 2022 · 205pp · 61,903 words
by Spencer Jakab · 1 Feb 2022 · 420pp · 94,064 words
by Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber · 29 Oct 2024 · 292pp · 106,826 words
by Donald Goldsmith and Martin Rees · 18 Apr 2022 · 192pp · 63,813 words
by Daniel Knowles · 27 Mar 2023 · 278pp · 91,332 words
by Nicholas Schmidle · 3 May 2021 · 342pp · 101,370 words
by Martin Ford · 13 Sep 2021 · 288pp · 86,995 words
by Tim Draper · 18 Dec 2017 · 302pp · 95,965 words
by Tim O'Reilly · 9 Oct 2017 · 561pp · 157,589 words
by Raj M. Shah and Christopher Kirchhoff · 8 Jul 2024 · 272pp · 103,638 words
by George Gilder · 16 Jul 2018 · 332pp · 93,672 words
by Gautam Baid · 1 Jun 2020 · 1,239pp · 163,625 words
by Chris Impey · 12 Apr 2015 · 370pp · 97,138 words
by Paul Scharre · 23 Apr 2018 · 590pp · 152,595 words
by Brett King · 5 May 2016 · 385pp · 111,113 words
by Jeanette Winterson · 15 Mar 2021 · 256pp · 73,068 words
by Jacob Turner · 29 Oct 2018 · 688pp · 147,571 words
by Vauhini Vara · 8 Apr 2025 · 301pp · 105,209 words
by Angus Hanton · 25 Mar 2024 · 277pp · 81,718 words
by Cory Doctorow · 6 Oct 2025 · 313pp · 94,415 words
by Sebastian Mallaby · 1 Feb 2022 · 935pp · 197,338 words
by Stephen Witt · 8 Apr 2025 · 260pp · 82,629 words
by Ray Kurzweil · 25 Jun 2024
by Scott Patterson · 5 Jun 2023 · 289pp · 95,046 words
by Yuval Noah Harari · 9 Sep 2024 · 566pp · 169,013 words
by Christian Wolmar · 18 Jan 2018
by Kai-Fu Lee and Qiufan Chen · 13 Sep 2021
by Calum Chace · 17 Jul 2016 · 477pp · 75,408 words
by Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever · 2 Apr 2017 · 181pp · 52,147 words
by Chris Dubbs, Emeline Paat-dahlstrom and Charles D. Walker · 1 Jun 2011 · 376pp · 110,796 words
by Bruce Nussbaum · 5 Mar 2013 · 385pp · 101,761 words
by Oliver Morton · 1 May 2019 · 319pp · 100,984 words
by Adrian Hon · 14 Sep 2022 · 371pp · 107,141 words
by Tim Wu · 4 Nov 2025 · 246pp · 65,143 words
by Tom Chivers · 12 Jun 2019 · 289pp · 92,714 words
by John Elkington · 6 Apr 2020 · 384pp · 93,754 words
by Vishen Lakhiani · 14 Sep 2020
by Luke Dormehl · 10 Aug 2016 · 252pp · 74,167 words
by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans · 25 Apr 2023 · 427pp · 134,098 words
by Morgan Housel · 7 Nov 2023 · 210pp · 53,743 words
by Lionel Barber · 3 Oct 2024 · 424pp · 123,730 words
by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson · 15 May 2023 · 619pp · 177,548 words
by Daniel Yergin · 14 Sep 2020
by Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal · 21 Feb 2017 · 407pp · 90,238 words
by Rod Pyle
by Dan Lyons · 22 Oct 2018 · 252pp · 78,780 words
by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters · 15 Sep 2014 · 185pp · 43,609 words
by Byron Reese · 23 Apr 2018 · 294pp · 96,661 words
by Eric Topol · 1 Jan 2019 · 424pp · 114,905 words
by Aaron Hurst · 31 Aug 2013 · 209pp · 63,649 words
by Rizwan Virk · 31 Mar 2019 · 315pp · 89,861 words
by Stuart Russell · 7 Oct 2019 · 416pp · 112,268 words
by Mary L. Gray and Siddharth Suri · 6 May 2019 · 346pp · 97,330 words
by Brian Merchant · 25 Sep 2023 · 524pp · 154,652 words
by Nicholas Carr · 28 Jan 2025 · 231pp · 85,135 words
by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares · 15 Sep 2025 · 215pp · 64,699 words
by Timothy Ferriss · 14 Jun 2017 · 579pp · 183,063 words
by Andrew Yang · 2 Apr 2018 · 300pp · 76,638 words
by Michael Shellenberger · 28 Jun 2020
by Jonathan Shapiro and James Eyers · 2 Aug 2021 · 444pp · 124,631 words
by Matthew Ball · 18 Jul 2022 · 412pp · 116,685 words
by Michael Lewis · 2 Oct 2023 · 263pp · 92,618 words
by Nick Maggiulli · 22 Jul 2025
by Ingrid Robeyns · 16 Jan 2024 · 327pp · 110,234 words
by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman · 22 Sep 2016
by Nicky Jenner · 5 Apr 2017 · 294pp · 87,986 words
by Kai-Fu Lee · 14 Sep 2018 · 307pp · 88,180 words
by Calum Chace · 28 Jul 2015 · 144pp · 43,356 words
by Salim Ismail and Yuri van Geest · 17 Oct 2014 · 292pp · 85,151 words
by Richard A. Clarke · 10 Apr 2017 · 428pp · 121,717 words
by Susan Schneider · 1 Oct 2019 · 331pp · 47,993 words
by Michael Shermer · 8 Apr 2020 · 677pp · 121,255 words
by Simon McCarthy-Jones · 12 Apr 2021
by Zeke Faux · 11 Sep 2023 · 385pp · 106,848 words
by David Sumpter · 18 Jun 2018 · 276pp · 81,153 words
by Kenneth Payne · 16 Jun 2021 · 339pp · 92,785 words
by Anupreeta Das · 12 Aug 2024 · 315pp · 115,894 words
by Mo Gawdat · 29 Sep 2021 · 259pp · 84,261 words
by Anthony M. Townsend · 15 Jun 2020 · 362pp · 97,288 words
by Joel Kotkin · 11 May 2020 · 393pp · 91,257 words
by Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb · 16 Apr 2018 · 345pp · 75,660 words
by Emily Chang · 6 Feb 2018 · 334pp · 104,382 words
by Mark O'Connell · 28 Feb 2017 · 252pp · 79,452 words
by Aaron Bastani · 10 Jun 2019 · 280pp · 74,559 words
by John Brockman · 19 Feb 2019 · 339pp · 94,769 words
by Jimmy Wales · 28 Oct 2025 · 216pp · 60,419 words
by Mehrsa Baradaran · 7 May 2024 · 470pp · 158,007 words
by Jeff Booth · 14 Jan 2020 · 180pp · 55,805 words
by Andrew Henderson · 8 Apr 2018 · 403pp · 110,492 words
by Steven Levy · 25 Feb 2020 · 706pp · 202,591 words
by David Kerrigan · 18 Jun 2017 · 472pp · 80,835 words
by Richard Rumelt · 27 Apr 2022 · 363pp · 109,834 words
by Rana Foroohar · 5 Nov 2019 · 380pp · 109,724 words
by Naomi Klein · 11 Sep 2023
by Kevin Roose · 9 Mar 2021 · 208pp · 57,602 words
by Hal Niedzviecki · 15 Mar 2015 · 343pp · 102,846 words
by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh · 14 Apr 2018 · 286pp · 87,401 words
by Corey Pein · 23 Apr 2018 · 282pp · 81,873 words
by Tom Standage · 16 Aug 2021 · 290pp · 85,847 words
by Rob Copeland · 7 Nov 2023 · 412pp · 122,655 words
by Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman · 17 Jul 2023 · 329pp · 99,504 words
by Robin Chase · 14 May 2015 · 330pp · 91,805 words
by Andrew Keen · 1 Mar 2018 · 308pp · 85,880 words
by Rod Pyle · 21 Dec 2016
by Kassia St Clair · 3 Oct 2018 · 480pp · 112,463 words
by Annie Lowrey · 10 Jul 2018 · 242pp · 73,728 words
by Beth Gardiner · 18 Apr 2019 · 353pp · 106,704 words
by James Bridle · 6 Apr 2022 · 502pp · 132,062 words
by Kelly Weill · 22 Feb 2022
by Tim Schwab · 13 Nov 2023 · 618pp · 179,407 words
by Rowan Hooper · 15 Jan 2020 · 285pp · 86,858 words
by Jacob Helberg · 11 Oct 2021 · 521pp · 118,183 words
by Brian Christian · 5 Oct 2020 · 625pp · 167,349 words
by Reeves Wiedeman · 19 Oct 2020 · 303pp · 100,516 words
by Clive Thompson · 26 Mar 2019 · 499pp · 144,278 words
by Daniel Susskind · 14 Jan 2020 · 419pp · 109,241 words
by Matthew B. Crawford · 8 Jun 2020 · 386pp · 113,709 words
by Joanne McNeil · 25 Feb 2020 · 239pp · 80,319 words
by Malcolm Harris · 14 Feb 2023 · 864pp · 272,918 words
by Kyle Chayka · 15 Jan 2024 · 321pp · 105,480 words
by Felix Gillette and John Koblin · 1 Nov 2022 · 575pp · 140,384 words
by William Davies · 26 Feb 2019 · 349pp · 98,868 words
by Billy Gallagher · 13 Feb 2018 · 359pp · 96,019 words
by Andrew Keen · 5 Jan 2015 · 361pp · 81,068 words
by Robert Bruce Shaw, James Foster and Brilliance Audio · 14 Oct 2017 · 280pp · 82,355 words
by Steve Levine · 5 Feb 2015 · 304pp · 88,495 words
by Ed Conway · 15 Jun 2023 · 515pp · 152,128 words
by Wendy Liu · 22 Mar 2020 · 223pp · 71,414 words
by Adam Greenfield · 29 May 2017 · 410pp · 119,823 words
by Mark Mahaney · 9 Nov 2021 · 311pp · 90,172 words
by Laura Trethewey · 15 May 2023
by Carl Zimmer · 29 May 2018
by Eswar S. Prasad · 27 Sep 2021 · 661pp · 185,701 words
by Mike Maples and Peter Ziebelman · 8 Jul 2024 · 207pp · 65,156 words
by Kenneth Cukier, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Francis de Véricourt · 10 May 2021 · 291pp · 80,068 words
by Michael Wolff · 5 Jan 2018 · 394pp · 112,770 words
by Fredrik Erixon and Bjorn Weigel · 3 Oct 2016 · 504pp · 126,835 words
by Adam Lashinsky · 31 Mar 2017 · 190pp · 62,941 words
by Will Storr · 14 Jun 2017 · 431pp · 129,071 words
by Steven Sloman · 10 Feb 2017 · 313pp · 91,098 words
by Joe Quirk and Patri Friedman · 21 Mar 2017 · 441pp · 113,244 words
by Ross Douthat · 25 Feb 2020 · 324pp · 80,217 words
by Yarden Katz
by Guillaume Pitron · 15 Feb 2020 · 249pp · 66,492 words
by James Vlahos · 1 Mar 2019 · 392pp · 108,745 words
by Chip Walter · 7 Jan 2020 · 232pp · 72,483 words
by Melanie Mitchell · 14 Oct 2019 · 350pp · 98,077 words
by Mark Bergen · 5 Sep 2022 · 642pp · 141,888 words
by Alec Nevala-Lee · 1 Aug 2022 · 864pp · 222,565 words
by Joanna Walsh · 22 Sep 2025 · 255pp · 80,203 words
by Richard Branson · 8 Sep 2014 · 315pp · 99,065 words
by Dorie Clark · 14 Oct 2021 · 201pp · 60,431 words
by Mervyn King and John Kay · 5 Mar 2020 · 807pp · 154,435 words
by Thomas H. Davenport and Julia Kirby · 23 May 2016 · 347pp · 97,721 words
by Scott Galloway · 2 Oct 2017 · 305pp · 79,303 words
by Sergey Young · 23 Aug 2021 · 326pp · 88,968 words
by Jane McGonigal · 22 Mar 2022 · 420pp · 135,569 words
by Anu Bradford · 25 Sep 2023 · 898pp · 236,779 words
by Philip Coggan · 1 Jul 2025 · 96pp · 36,083 words
by Maximilian Kasy · 15 Jan 2025 · 209pp · 63,332 words
by Meredith Broussard · 19 Apr 2018 · 245pp · 83,272 words
by Designing The Mind and Ryan A Bush · 10 Jan 2021
by Rodrigo Aguilera · 10 Mar 2020 · 356pp · 106,161 words
by James Ball · 19 Jul 2023 · 317pp · 87,048 words
by Alice Ross · 19 Nov 2020 · 197pp · 53,831 words
by Blake J. Harris · 19 Feb 2019 · 561pp · 163,916 words
by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake · 7 Nov 2017 · 346pp · 89,180 words
by Sandra Navidi · 24 Jan 2017 · 831pp · 98,409 words
by Martin J. Rees · 14 Oct 2018 · 193pp · 51,445 words
by Marc Goodman · 24 Feb 2015 · 677pp · 206,548 words
by Margaret O'Mara · 8 Jul 2019
by Simon Baron-Cohen · 14 Aug 2020
by Michael Hyatt · 8 Apr 2019 · 243pp · 59,662 words
by Jennifer Pahlka · 12 Jun 2023 · 288pp · 96,204 words
by Alec Nevala-Lee · 22 Oct 2018 · 622pp · 169,014 words
by Jeff Sharlet · 21 Mar 2023 · 308pp · 97,480 words
by Patrick McGee · 13 May 2025 · 377pp · 138,306 words
by Daniel Yergin · 14 May 2011 · 1,373pp · 300,577 words
by Ben Mezrich · 5 Sep 2016 · 286pp · 77,039 words
by Alissa Quart · 14 Mar 2023 · 304pp · 86,028 words
by Tim Marshall · 14 Oct 2021 · 383pp · 105,387 words
by Jean M. Twenge · 25 Apr 2023 · 541pp · 173,676 words
by Annalee Newitz · 3 Jun 2024 · 251pp · 68,713 words
by Don Watkins and Yaron Brook · 28 Mar 2016 · 345pp · 92,849 words
by Johan Norberg · 14 Jun 2023 · 295pp · 87,204 words
by Allen Gannett · 11 Jun 2018 · 247pp · 69,593 words
by Mike Isaac · 2 Sep 2019 · 444pp · 127,259 words
by Mark O'Connell · 13 Apr 2020 · 213pp · 70,742 words
by Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar · 19 Oct 2017 · 416pp · 106,532 words
by Erik J. Larson · 5 Apr 2021
by Jonathan Taplin · 17 Apr 2017 · 222pp · 70,132 words
by Adam Grant · 2 Feb 2016 · 410pp · 101,260 words
by Bruce Schneier · 3 Sep 2018 · 448pp · 117,325 words
by Tyler Cowen · 27 Feb 2017 · 287pp · 82,576 words
by Nathaniel Popper · 18 May 2015 · 387pp · 112,868 words
by Iain Gately · 6 Nov 2014 · 352pp · 104,411 words
by Julian Guthrie · 15 Nov 2019
by Ronald J. Deibert · 14 Aug 2020
by Jamie Susskind · 3 Sep 2018 · 533pp
by John Cassidy · 12 May 2025 · 774pp · 238,244 words
by Christopher Summerfield · 11 Mar 2025 · 412pp · 122,298 words
by Brett Scott · 4 Jul 2022 · 308pp · 85,850 words
by Orly Lobel · 17 Oct 2022 · 370pp · 112,809 words
by Roger Bootle · 4 Sep 2019 · 374pp · 111,284 words
by Robert Elliott Smith · 26 Jun 2019 · 370pp · 107,983 words
by Timothy Ferriss · 6 Dec 2016 · 669pp · 210,153 words
by Garrett Neiman · 19 Jun 2023 · 386pp · 112,064 words
by Walker Deibel · 19 Oct 2018
by Leonard David · 6 May 2019
by John Sviokla and Mitch Cohen · 30 Dec 2014 · 252pp · 70,424 words
by Nick Polson and James Scott · 14 May 2018 · 301pp · 85,126 words
by Michiko Kakutani · 20 Feb 2024 · 262pp · 69,328 words
by Ben Mezrich · 20 May 2019 · 304pp · 91,566 words
by Gareth Dennis · 12 Nov 2024 · 261pp · 76,645 words
by Kenneth Rogoff · 27 Feb 2025 · 330pp · 127,791 words
by Quinn Slobodian · 4 Apr 2023 · 360pp · 107,124 words
by Natalie Berg and Miya Knights · 28 Jan 2019 · 404pp · 95,163 words
by Steven Higashide · 9 Oct 2019 · 195pp · 52,701 words
by Toby Ord · 24 Mar 2020 · 513pp · 152,381 words
by George Packer · 4 Mar 2014 · 559pp · 169,094 words
by Anthony Berglas, William Black, Samantha Thalind, Max Scratchmann and Michelle Estes · 28 Feb 2015
by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge · 27 Feb 2018 · 267pp · 72,552 words
by Paul Jarvis · 1 Jan 2019 · 258pp · 74,942 words
by Benjamin H. Bratton · 19 Feb 2016 · 903pp · 235,753 words
by Olivia Fox Cabane · 1 Mar 2012 · 287pp · 81,014 words
by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann · 17 Jun 2019
by Ray Dalio · 18 Sep 2017 · 516pp · 157,437 words
by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson · 18 Mar 2025 · 227pp · 84,566 words
by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner · 16 Feb 2023 · 353pp · 97,029 words
by Sally Adee · 27 Feb 2023 · 329pp · 101,233 words
by Richard Baldwin · 10 Jan 2019 · 301pp · 89,076 words
by Edward Chancellor · 15 Aug 2022 · 829pp · 187,394 words
by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell · 19 Jul 2021 · 460pp · 130,820 words
by Jeff John Roberts · 15 Dec 2020 · 226pp · 65,516 words
by Yascha Mounk · 26 Sep 2023
by John Fabian Witt · 14 Oct 2025 · 735pp · 279,360 words
by James Ashton · 11 May 2023 · 401pp · 113,586 words
by Christopher Mims · 13 Sep 2021 · 385pp · 112,842 words
by Guy Standing · 19 Mar 2020
by Witold Rybczynski · 8 Oct 2024 · 187pp · 65,740 words
by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung · 8 Jul 2019 · 389pp · 81,596 words
by Azeem Azhar · 6 Sep 2021 · 447pp · 111,991 words
by Sarah Lacy · 6 Jan 2011 · 269pp · 77,876 words
by Michael Bhaskar · 2 Nov 2021
by Nicholas Lemann · 9 Sep 2019 · 354pp · 118,970 words
by Tom Eisenmann · 29 Mar 2021 · 387pp · 106,753 words
by Rob Reich, Mehran Sahami and Jeremy M. Weinstein · 6 Sep 2021
by Adrienne Mayor · 27 Nov 2018
by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott · 9 May 2016 · 515pp · 126,820 words
by Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck · 14 Sep 2020 · 339pp · 103,546 words
by Oliver Morton · 26 Sep 2015 · 469pp · 142,230 words
by Terrence J. Sejnowski · 27 Sep 2018
by David Sawyer · 17 Aug 2018 · 572pp · 94,002 words
by Brian Merchant · 19 Jun 2017 · 416pp · 129,308 words
by Kevin Morrison · 15 Jul 2008 · 311pp · 17,232 words
by Jamie Bartlett · 4 Apr 2018 · 170pp · 49,193 words
by Hannah Fry · 17 Sep 2018 · 296pp · 78,631 words
by Chris Goodall · 6 Jul 2016 · 271pp · 79,367 words
by Mark Stevenson · 4 Dec 2010 · 379pp · 108,129 words
by Richard Yonck · 7 Mar 2017 · 360pp · 100,991 words
by Klaus Schwab · 11 Jan 2016 · 179pp · 43,441 words
by Richard Watson · 5 Nov 2013 · 219pp · 63,495 words
by Eliot Higgins · 2 Mar 2021 · 277pp · 70,506 words
by Tony Fadell · 2 May 2022 · 411pp · 119,022 words
by Grant Sabatier · 10 Mar 2025 · 442pp · 126,902 words
by Tyler Cowen · 8 Apr 2019 · 297pp · 84,009 words
by Scott Belsky · 1 Oct 2018 · 425pp · 112,220 words
by Nick Bostrom · 26 Mar 2024 · 547pp · 173,909 words
by Denise Hearn and Vass Bednar · 14 Oct 2024 · 175pp · 46,192 words
by Paul Scharre · 18 Jan 2023
by James Lovelock · 27 Aug 2019 · 94pp · 33,179 words
by Justin E. H. Smith · 22 Mar 2022 · 198pp · 59,351 words
by Yancey Strickler · 29 Oct 2019 · 254pp · 61,387 words
by Tim Berners-Lee · 8 Sep 2025 · 347pp · 100,038 words
by Madhumita Murgia · 20 Mar 2024 · 336pp · 91,806 words
by Bregman, Rutger · 9 Mar 2025 · 181pp · 72,663 words
by John Y. Campbell and Tarun Ramadorai · 25 Jul 2025
by Adam Tooze · 15 Nov 2021 · 561pp · 138,158 words
by Ronald Cohen · 1 Jul 2020 · 276pp · 59,165 words
by Jaideep Prabhu Navi Radjou · 15 Feb 2015 · 400pp · 88,647 words
by Jeff Goodell · 23 Oct 2017 · 292pp · 92,588 words
by Buzz Aldrin and Leonard David · 1 Apr 2013 · 183pp · 51,514 words
by David Levinson and Kevin Krizek · 17 Aug 2015 · 257pp · 64,285 words
by Lionel Barber · 5 Nov 2020
by Nouriel Roubini · 17 Oct 2022 · 328pp · 96,678 words
by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris · 10 Jul 2023 · 338pp · 104,815 words
by Scott Weidensaul · 29 Mar 2021 · 415pp · 136,343 words
by Charles Conn and Robert McLean · 6 Mar 2019
by Eric Ries · 15 Mar 2017 · 406pp · 105,602 words
by Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig · 14 Jul 2019 · 2,466pp · 668,761 words
by Kevin Kelly · 6 Jun 2016 · 371pp · 108,317 words
by Haym Benaroya · 12 Jan 2018 · 571pp · 124,448 words
by Leigh Gallagher · 14 Feb 2017 · 290pp · 87,549 words
by Brent Donnelly · 11 May 2021
by Eric Kaufmann · 24 Oct 2018 · 691pp · 203,236 words
by Guy Raz · 14 Sep 2020 · 361pp · 107,461 words
by Cary McClelland · 8 Oct 2018 · 225pp · 70,241 words
by Andy Greenberg · 15 Nov 2022 · 494pp · 121,217 words
by Sahil Bloom · 4 Feb 2025 · 363pp · 94,341 words
by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie · 1 Mar 2018
by Brian Dear · 14 Jun 2017 · 708pp · 223,211 words
by Aaron Benanav · 3 Nov 2020 · 175pp · 45,815 words
by Bruce Schneier · 7 Feb 2023 · 306pp · 82,909 words
by Jordan Thomas · 27 May 2025 · 347pp · 105,327 words
by Hans Gremeil and William Sposato · 15 Dec 2021 · 404pp · 126,447 words
by Ali Tamaseb · 14 Sep 2021 · 251pp · 80,831 words
by Anne Case and Angus Deaton · 17 Mar 2020 · 421pp · 110,272 words
by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian · 7 Oct 2024 · 336pp · 104,899 words
by Vivek Wadhwa · 1 Oct 2012 · 103pp · 24,033 words
by Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak and Paul Swartz · 8 Jul 2024 · 259pp · 89,637 words
by Sarah Frier · 13 Apr 2020 · 484pp · 114,613 words
by Robin Wigglesworth · 11 Oct 2021 · 432pp · 106,612 words
by James Dyson · 6 Sep 2021 · 312pp · 108,194 words
by Randall Stross · 4 Sep 2013 · 332pp · 97,325 words
by Brad Stone · 14 Oct 2013 · 380pp · 118,675 words
by Melvin Croft, John Youskauskas and Don Thomas · 1 Feb 2019 · 609pp · 159,043 words
by Brian Dumaine · 11 May 2020 · 411pp · 98,128 words
by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer · 7 Sep 2020 · 317pp · 89,825 words
by Jaron Lanier · 21 Nov 2017 · 480pp · 123,979 words
by Sinan Aral · 14 Sep 2020 · 475pp · 134,707 words
by Scott Davis, Carter Copeland and Rob Wertheimer · 13 Jul 2020 · 372pp · 101,678 words
by Steven Pinker · 13 Feb 2018 · 1,034pp · 241,773 words
by Harsha Walia · 9 Feb 2021
by Ed Finn · 10 Mar 2017 · 285pp · 86,853 words
by David Goodhart · 7 Sep 2020 · 463pp · 115,103 words
by Virginia Eubanks · 294pp · 77,356 words
by Alex Honnold and David Roberts · 2 Nov 2015 · 265pp · 77,084 words
by Michael Wooldridge · 2 Nov 2018 · 346pp · 97,890 words
by John Markoff · 24 Aug 2015 · 413pp · 119,587 words
by Roger McNamee · 1 Jan 2019 · 382pp · 105,819 words
by Yasha Levine · 6 Feb 2018 · 474pp · 130,575 words
by Amy Webb · 5 Mar 2019 · 340pp · 97,723 words
by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams · 1 Oct 2015 · 357pp · 95,986 words
by Garry Kasparov · 1 May 2017 · 331pp · 104,366 words
by Alex Cuadros · 1 Jun 2016 · 433pp · 125,031 words
by Jamie Bartlett · 12 Jun 2017 · 390pp · 109,870 words
by Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown · 24 Apr 2017 · 344pp · 96,020 words
by David S. Abraham · 27 Oct 2015 · 386pp · 91,913 words
by Ruchir Sharma · 5 Jun 2016 · 566pp · 163,322 words
by Ian Goldin and Chris Kutarna · 23 May 2016 · 437pp · 113,173 words
by Nathan Schneider · 10 Sep 2018 · 326pp · 91,559 words
by Richard L. Brandt · 27 Oct 2011 · 222pp · 54,506 words
by Nicholas Carr · 28 Sep 2014 · 308pp · 84,713 words
by Tom Standage · 27 Nov 2018 · 215pp · 59,188 words
by Adrian Wooldridge and Alan Greenspan · 15 Oct 2018 · 585pp · 151,239 words
by Mike Berners-Lee · 27 Feb 2019
by Daniel C. Dennett · 7 Feb 2017 · 573pp · 157,767 words
by David Wallace-Wells · 19 Feb 2019 · 343pp · 101,563 words
by Nicholas Carr · 5 Sep 2016 · 391pp · 105,382 words
by Alissa Quart · 25 Jun 2018 · 320pp · 90,526 words
by Eric Posner and E. Weyl · 14 May 2018 · 463pp · 105,197 words
by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen · 22 Apr 2013 · 525pp · 116,295 words
by John Kay · 2 Sep 2015 · 478pp · 126,416 words
by Gregg Easterbrook · 20 Feb 2018 · 424pp · 119,679 words
by Alex Kantrowitz · 6 Apr 2020 · 260pp · 67,823 words
by Naomi Klein · 12 Jun 2017 · 357pp · 94,852 words
by Ken Auletta · 4 Jun 2018 · 379pp · 109,223 words
by David Sax · 8 Nov 2016 · 360pp · 101,038 words
by Douglas Rushkoff · 1 Mar 2016 · 366pp · 94,209 words
by Satya Nadella, Greg Shaw and Jill Tracie Nichols · 25 Sep 2017 · 391pp · 71,600 words
by Gene Sperling · 14 Sep 2020 · 667pp · 149,811 words
by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith · 16 Oct 2017 · 398pp · 105,032 words
by Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey · 27 Jan 2015 · 457pp · 128,838 words
by Michael A. Heller and James Salzman · 2 Mar 2021 · 332pp · 100,245 words
by Michael Kearns and Aaron Roth · 3 Oct 2019
by Geoffrey Cain · 15 Mar 2020 · 540pp · 119,731 words
by Rebecca Fannin · 2 Sep 2019 · 269pp · 70,543 words
by Jevin D. West and Carl T. Bergstrom · 3 Aug 2020
by Joseph E. Stiglitz · 22 Apr 2019 · 462pp · 129,022 words
by James Altucher · 14 Sep 2013 · 230pp · 76,655 words
by Celeste Headlee · 10 Mar 2020 · 246pp · 74,404 words
by Pete Dyson and Rory Sutherland · 15 Jan 2021 · 342pp · 72,927 words
by Franklin Foer · 31 Aug 2017 · 281pp · 71,242 words
by Andreas Herrmann, Walter Brenner and Rupert Stadler · 25 Mar 2018
by Tamara Kneese · 14 Aug 2023 · 284pp · 75,744 words
by Marcus Du Sautoy · 7 Mar 2019 · 337pp · 103,522 words
by Jason Torchinsky · 6 May 2019 · 175pp · 54,755 words
by Julie Battilana and Tiziana Casciaro · 30 Aug 2021 · 345pp · 92,063 words
by Kevin Davies · 5 Oct 2020 · 741pp · 164,057 words
by Nicole Aschoff
by Gregory Zuckerman · 5 Nov 2019 · 407pp · 104,622 words
by Victor Haghani and James White · 27 Aug 2023 · 314pp · 122,534 words
by Peter Biskind · 6 Nov 2023 · 543pp · 143,084 words
by Alan Weisman · 21 Apr 2025 · 599pp · 149,014 words
by Frank Pasquale · 14 May 2020 · 1,172pp · 114,305 words
by Dade Hayes and Dawn Chmielewski · 18 Apr 2022 · 414pp · 117,581 words
by Mikkel Svane and Carlye Adler · 13 Nov 2014 · 220pp
by Dan McCrum · 15 Jun 2022 · 361pp · 117,566 words
by Katherine Blunt · 29 Aug 2022 · 470pp · 107,074 words
by Daniel Susskind · 16 Apr 2024 · 358pp · 109,930 words
by Andrew Simms · 314pp · 81,529 words
by Carl Benedikt Frey · 17 Jun 2019 · 626pp · 167,836 words
by Leigh Phillips and Michal Rozworski · 5 Mar 2019 · 202pp · 62,901 words
by Marcos González Hernando and Gerry Mitchell · 23 May 2023
by Sarah Wynn-Williams · 11 Mar 2025 · 370pp · 115,318 words
by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel · 4 Sep 2013 · 202pp · 59,883 words
by Vincent Ialenti · 22 Sep 2020 · 224pp · 69,593 words
by Richard Beck · 2 Sep 2024 · 715pp · 212,449 words
by Jessica Bruder and Dale Maharidge · 29 Mar 2020 · 159pp · 42,401 words
by John Hagel Iii and John Seely Brown · 12 Apr 2010 · 319pp · 89,477 words
by Joel Kotkin · 31 Aug 2014 · 362pp · 83,464 words
by Michael Collins and Charles A. Lindbergh · 15 Apr 2019
by Chris Anderson · 1 Oct 2012 · 238pp · 73,824 words
by Stuart Maconie · 5 Mar 2020 · 300pp · 106,520 words
by Extinction Rebellion · 12 Jun 2019 · 138pp · 40,525 words
by Stewart Brand · 15 Mar 2009 · 422pp · 113,525 words
by Antonio Garcia Martinez · 27 Jun 2016 · 559pp · 155,372 words
by Michael Jacobs and Mariana Mazzucato · 31 Jul 2016 · 370pp · 102,823 words
by Chris Hughes · 20 Feb 2018 · 173pp · 53,564 words
by Eric Topol · 6 Jan 2015 · 588pp · 131,025 words
by Lonely Planet
by Erik Baker · 13 Jan 2025 · 362pp · 132,186 words
by Jamie K. McCallum · 15 Nov 2022 · 349pp · 99,230 words
by Joseph Romm · 3 Dec 2015 · 358pp · 93,969 words
by Michael Lewis · 18 Mar 2025 · 186pp · 61,027 words
by Sam Freedman · 10 Jul 2024 · 368pp · 101,133 words
by Paul Kingsnorth · 23 Sep 2025 · 388pp · 110,920 words
by Jesselyn Cook · 22 Jul 2024 · 321pp · 95,778 words
by Matthew Yglesias · 14 Sep 2020
by Sarah Jaffe · 26 Jan 2021 · 490pp · 153,455 words
by Paul Collier · 6 Aug 2024 · 299pp · 92,766 words
by Callum Cant · 11 Nov 2019 · 196pp · 55,862 words
by Chris Atkins · 6 Feb 2020 · 335pp · 98,847 words
by Anders Lisdorf
by Jonathan Greenaway · 29 Mar 2024 · 49pp · 14,870 words
by Rich Karlgaard · 15 Apr 2019 · 321pp · 92,828 words
by Reid Hoffman, June Cohen and Deron Triff · 14 Oct 2021 · 309pp · 96,168 words
by Parag Khanna · 18 Apr 2016 · 497pp · 144,283 words
by David G. W. Birch · 14 Apr 2020 · 247pp · 60,543 words
by Orlando Whitfield · 5 Aug 2024 · 306pp · 104,072 words
by Douglas Coupland · 4 Oct 2016
by Jeff Berwick and Charlie Robinson · 14 Apr 2020 · 491pp · 141,690 words
by Danny Dorling and Kirsten McClure · 18 May 2020 · 459pp · 138,689 words
by Rupert Darwall · 2 Oct 2017 · 451pp · 115,720 words
by Deyan Sudjic · 17 Feb 2015 · 335pp · 111,405 words
by Jill Lepore · 14 Sep 2020 · 467pp · 149,632 words
by Richard Seymour · 20 Aug 2019 · 297pp · 83,651 words
by Jason Hickel · 12 Aug 2020 · 286pp · 87,168 words
by Rebecca Henderson · 27 Apr 2020 · 330pp · 99,044 words
by Fareed Zakaria · 5 Oct 2020 · 289pp · 86,165 words
by Taylor Pearson · 27 Jun 2015 · 168pp · 50,647 words
by Dominica Degrandis and Tonianne Demaria · 14 May 2017 · 153pp · 45,721 words
by Mushtak Al-Atabi · 26 Aug 2014 · 204pp · 66,619 words
by Kurt Andersen · 14 Sep 2020 · 486pp · 150,849 words
by John Brockman · 5 Oct 2015 · 481pp · 125,946 words
by Laurie Kilmartin · 13 Feb 2018 · 119pp · 36,128 words
by David de Cremer · 25 May 2020 · 241pp · 70,307 words
by Tim S. Grover and Shari Wenk · 17 May 2021 · 192pp · 59,234 words
by Ellen Ruppel Shell · 22 Oct 2018 · 402pp · 126,835 words
by Phoebe Robinson · 15 Oct 2018 · 257pp · 90,857 words
by David Golumbia · 25 Sep 2016 · 87pp · 25,823 words
by Jeffrey Kluger · 25 Aug 2014 · 295pp · 89,280 words
by Guy Standing · 3 May 2017 · 307pp · 82,680 words
by Jim Blandy and Jason Orendorff · 21 Nov 2017 · 1,331pp · 183,137 words
by Nick Bostrom · 3 Jun 2014 · 574pp · 164,509 words
by John Lewis · 22 Jul 2014 · 183pp · 54,731 words
by Adam Fisher · 9 Jul 2018 · 611pp · 188,732 words
by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths · 4 Apr 2016 · 523pp · 143,139 words
by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson · 26 Jun 2017 · 472pp · 117,093 words
by Sarah Kessler · 11 Jun 2018 · 246pp · 68,392 words
by Chuck Klosterman · 6 Jun 2016 · 281pp · 78,317 words
by Anand Giridharadas · 27 Aug 2018 · 296pp · 98,018 words
by Steve Sammartino · 25 Jun 2014 · 247pp · 81,135 words
by John Carreyrou · 20 May 2018 · 359pp · 110,488 words
by Ian Demartino · 2 Feb 2016 · 296pp · 86,610 words
by Craig Kielburger, Holly Branson, Marc Kielburger, Sir Richard Branson and Sheryl Sandberg · 7 Mar 2018 · 335pp · 96,002 words
by Laurence Scott · 11 Jul 2018 · 244pp · 81,334 words
by Grant Cardone · 20 Sep 2016 · 177pp · 56,657 words
by Rob Manning and William L. Simon · 20 Oct 2014 · 237pp · 76,486 words
by Paul Vigna and Michael J. Casey · 27 Feb 2018 · 348pp · 97,277 words
by Aurélien Géron · 13 Mar 2017 · 1,331pp · 163,200 words
by Margaret Lazarus Dean · 18 May 2015 · 338pp · 112,127 words
by Philippe Legrain · 22 Apr 2014 · 497pp · 150,205 words
by Tommy Baker · 18 Feb 2018 · 170pp · 46,126 words
by Rory Sutherland · 6 May 2019 · 401pp · 93,256 words
by Julia Ebner · 20 Feb 2020 · 309pp · 79,414 words
by Stephen M Fleming · 27 Apr 2021
by James Patterson, John Connolly and Tim Malloy · 10 Oct 2016 · 234pp · 63,844 words
by Douglas Edwards · 11 Jul 2011 · 496pp · 154,363 words
by Jonathan Tepper · 20 Nov 2018 · 417pp · 97,577 words
by Martin S. Fridson and Fernando Alvarez · 31 May 2011
by Holly Glenn Whitaker · 9 Jan 2020 · 334pp · 109,882 words
by Sangeet Paul Choudary, Marshall W. van Alstyne and Geoffrey G. Parker · 27 Mar 2016 · 421pp · 110,406 words
by Matthew Syed · 9 Sep 2019 · 280pp · 76,638 words
by Sarah Stewart Johnson · 6 Jul 2020 · 400pp · 99,489 words
by Bruce Cannon Gibney · 7 Mar 2017 · 526pp · 160,601 words
by Joi Ito and Jeff Howe · 6 Dec 2016 · 254pp · 76,064 words
by Penny Mordaunt and Chris Lewis · 19 May 2021 · 516pp · 116,875 words
by Robert H. Latiff · 25 Sep 2017 · 158pp · 46,353 words
by New Scientist and Helen Thomson · 7 Jan 2021 · 442pp · 85,640 words
by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn · 14 Jan 2020 · 307pp · 96,543 words
by Susan Fowler · 18 Feb 2020 · 205pp · 71,872 words
by Jeff Lawson · 12 Jan 2021 · 282pp · 85,658 words
by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms · 2 Apr 2018 · 416pp · 100,130 words
by Ed West · 19 Mar 2020 · 530pp · 147,851 words
by Amy B. Zegart · 6 Nov 2021
by Tien Tzuo and Gabe Weisert · 4 Jun 2018 · 244pp · 66,977 words
by Robert J. Shiller · 14 Oct 2019 · 611pp · 130,419 words
by Thomas W. Malone · 14 May 2018 · 344pp · 104,077 words
by Aaron Dignan · 1 Feb 2019 · 309pp · 81,975 words
by Oliver Burkeman · 8 Oct 2024 · 123pp · 43,370 words
by Jason Hickel · 3 May 2017 · 332pp · 106,197 words
by Tripp Mickle · 2 May 2022 · 535pp · 149,752 words
by Hannah Gadsby · 15 Mar 2022 · 373pp · 132,377 words
by Christopher Wylie · 8 Oct 2019
by David Heath · 18 Jan 2022
by Dominique Mielle · 6 Sep 2021 · 195pp · 63,455 words
by James Meek · 5 Mar 2019 · 232pp · 76,830 words
by Susan Linn · 12 Sep 2022 · 415pp · 102,982 words
by J. David McSwane · 11 Apr 2022 · 368pp · 102,379 words
by Thomas Chatterton Williams · 4 Aug 2025 · 242pp · 76,315 words
by David Sax · 15 Jan 2022 · 282pp · 93,783 words
by Tamika Lechee Morales · 23 Apr 2022 · 209pp · 64,635 words
by Rebecca Boyle · 16 Jan 2024 · 354pp · 109,574 words
by David Bellos and Alexandre Montagu · 23 Jan 2024 · 305pp · 101,093 words
by Oliver Franklin-Wallis · 21 Jun 2023 · 309pp · 121,279 words
by Rachel Deloache Williams · 15 Jul 2019 · 297pp · 92,083 words
by Grace Blakeley · 11 Mar 2024 · 371pp · 137,268 words
by Guillaume Pitron · 14 Jun 2023 · 271pp · 79,355 words
by Elle Reeve · 9 Jul 2024
by Alex Edmans · 13 May 2024 · 315pp · 87,035 words
by Sonja Thiel and Johannes C. Bernhardt · 31 Dec 2023 · 321pp · 113,564 words