Elon Musk

Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

By: Ashlee Vance

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

In the spirit of Steve Jobs and Moneyball, Elon Musk is both an illuminating and authorized look at the extraordinary life of one of Silicon Valley's most exciting, unpredictable, and ambitious entrepreneurs - a real-life Tony Stark - and a fascinating exploration of the renewal of American invention and its new makers.

Elon Musk spotlights the technology and vision of Elon Musk, the renowned entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, who sold one of his Internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius' life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and flight to the United States to his dramatic technical innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits.

Vance uses Musk's story to explore one of the pressing questions of our age: Can the nation of inventors and creators who led the modern world for a century still compete in an age of fierce global competition? He argues that Musk - one of the most unusual and striking figures in American business history - is a contemporary, visionary amalgam of legendary inventors and industrialists, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs. More than any other entrepreneur today, Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far reaching as the visionaries of the golden age of science-fiction fantasy.

©2015 Ashlee Vance (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Fred Sanders narrates this smartly written biography with the right balance of gravitas and entertainment value, providing accents for some of the major characters including a convincing South African accent for the story's star.... The combination of great narration, well-written and well-researched content, and a bigger-than-life subject propels this nuanced work into the upper atmosphere of audiobook biographies." (AudioFile)

Inspirational, Informative, anything is Possible

What made the experience of listening to Elon Musk the most enjoyable?

The narration flowed really well, not a boring moment. But truly someone I can relate to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Elon Musk?

A lot of memorable moments to mention. Just his early struggles in life and how he was able to overcome it.

Have you listened to any of Fred Sanders’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time listening to Fred Sanders, he did very well. If I hadn't heard Elon speak before, I would think Fred was Elon.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book gave me the confidence to forge ahead with my own ideas, own inventions, and strive to make innovations that will benefit everyone.

Any additional comments?

Believe in yourself, "Knowledge Empowers Us All To Do Great Things." ~Ed Reyes

Who The Man Is? or, Dare to Dream

I disagree with a previous reviewer who said the book is not about Elon Musk, the man, but instead about his companies. In order to want to know anything about his companies, you must first understand who Elon is, what drives him, what he was like as a kid, what he is really like now, and just how he came to be where he is now. It's all here.

Sure, I have a degree in psychology and am very interested in human behavior, nature vs. nurture, and how our childhood affects us in adulthood. But this book is not for psychology buffs, it is for everybody. It is the story of how Elon Musk rose to where he is today, why he is so future-oriented when so many of the successful business wizards are living greedily in the present, and where Elon hopes to be going.

Along the way, you will learn a great deal about his companies--his early successes and experiences all the way up to his current day successes, the trials and errors, and what we might expect in the future. You see those Tesla cars on the freeway and all you think about is how expensive they are. You hear about Space-X launches and wonder why you should be interested. It is all laid out nicely in this book.

Ashlee Vance, the author, did thorough research. Fred Sanders gives a great narration. Besides being an important book, it is a fascinating listen. Highly recommended!

Stop with the accents!

Great book, fantastic insight into Elon Musk's journey, including his successes and failures.

The reader was fine but he did terrible accents for Musk and other people. Your voice is fine dude, the accents were lame and distracting.

Otherwise highly recommended!

This really shed some light on who Elon musk is.

Before I read this book I had assumed some things about Elon. This put a human face on who he is. He is very hardworking and a real hands-on person.

Interesting book- but not sure

I found it interesting that some stories in here don't line up with what he says in interviews. For example, the book says they installed an electric motor in a Mercedes CLS when they went to Mercedes but in an interview that I've seen on YouTube, he says Mercedes asked them to install an electric motor in a smart for two. The tiny car. So not sure how much I believe the rest of the stories. It was fun to listen to but now that I know some stories are inaccurate, not really a big fan. I wonder if the rest of the stories in the book were also inaccurate

Who is Musk.

overall a good book to read. well written. provides a glimpse into the man and businesses.

Great independent story

I like that the book just told the story of Elon musk. Neither tried to paint him in a positive light or be supercritical. It was a balanced story and very interesting.

Inspiring!

Absolutely inspiring. A great insight into an interesting life and the challenges of modern day startups and what it takes to achieve what others think is impossible. Best of luck to you Elon.

I can't wait to get my Tesla X.

Elon is the epitome of a modern industrialist, taking massive personal risks to achieve his vision. His commitment to a greater future for humanity through planetary exploration is such a crazy and noble idea that it will probably work. If Elon is at the helm it has a chance and I will be a strong supporter along the way.
Brian.

A Well Organized Look Into an Innovative Mind

I have become more and more interested in Elon Musk over the last several months and I finally decided to listen to this. It was more comprehensive than I was expecting. The author outlines the details and events of Musk's life in great detail and give adequate attention to all facets of his life. There were many details about the Tesla cars that I was not aware of and I will admit that I did not know much about Space X.

I really enjoyed hearing about how he runs his companies and the effort and events that lead to their foundation and eventual success. I felt that the author did a fair job of presenting multiple sides of the events. We hear from the people that discredit Musk or those that view him in a negative light. We also hear from the voices that would consider him Steve Job v.2.0.

It does seem that the author tried to sell the reader a bit too much on how incredible Musk is. At times it crosses the line from memoir/reporting to editorial. Even though this happens it never goes to an extreme and I found that the book would quickly back to the facts. it's like your friend that has to let you know that they are correct but then respectfully asks for your input.

Fred Sanders did a fine job with the reading and even did some voices but those didn't really add to the experience and was unneeded. At times he was a little slow but he had good tone and was easy to follow.

If you are looking for insight and a comprehensive look on Elon Musk, this book does the trick but with a little bit of commentary on the side.

Overall: 4.25/5