I wish I’d read this book sooner! Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance tells the ambitious life story of entrepreneur Elon Musk up until early 2015 when the book was published. Having worked at SpaceX, I knew Musk’s general accomplishments but many of the details were new to me, especially on the PayPal and Tesla portions.
While still a fascinating read, the book is quickly becoming out of date with Musk’s fast-paced innovations. For instance, SpaceX has begun successfully landing rockets, launched the Falcon Heavy, and begun development of an even larger rocket, called Starship, since publication! On the Tesla side, deliveries have begun for the Model 3 and Model Y and designs for the Tesla semi-truck and Cybertruck have been unveiled.
Book Stats
- Title: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
- Author: Ashlee Vance
- Genre: Biography, Nonfiction, Business
- Publication Date: March 3, 2015
- Pages: 374
- Est. Reading Time: 15 hours
- My Rating: 4/5 Stars
- Buy Now: Amazon or BAM!
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future – Plot Summary
Ashlee Vance’s biography of Elon Musk follows his life from childhood up to 2015. Elon’s many entrepreneurship ventures, namely Zip2, PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, are presented via interviews with Elon and his friends, employees, family, etc. Emphasis is placed on the immense challenges each company faced and the risks / sacrifices Elon made to achieve success. There’s a great quote near the beginning of the book that sums up Elon’s ambitions:
Turning humans into space colonizers is his stated life’s purpose. “I would like to die thinking that humanity has a bright future,” he said. “If we can solve sustainable energy and be well on our way to becoming a multiplanetary species with a self-sustaining civilization on another planet—to cope with a worst-case scenario happening and extinguishing human consciousness—then,” and here he paused for a moment, “I think that would be really good.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Elon Musk
My Thoughts
The main thing that stood out to me was Elon’s willingness to take risks and go bigger. After his initial ventures, Zip2 and PayPal, succeeded, most people would have called it quits with enough money to be set for life. Instead, Elon doubled down and set his sights on building Tesla and SpaceX.
“Short of building an actual money-crushing machine, Musk could not have picked a faster way to destroy his fortune. He became a one-man, ultra-risk-taking venture capital shop and doubled down on making super-complex physical goods in two of the most expensive places in the world, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
Of course, today, it appears his gamble paid off. But in 2008 it was a different story. SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket had failed three times and there was barely enough money to try a fourth launch. Meanwhile, Tesla was nearing bankruptcy as they struggled to get the Roadster into production and begin deliveries. By the end of 2008, Elon had put everything he had into the two companies and was borrowing from friends to make ends meet.
“I could either pick SpaceX or Tesla or split the money I had left between them,” Musk said. “That was a tough decision. If I split the money, maybe both of them would die. If I gave the money to just one company, the probability of it surviving was greater, but then it would mean certain death for the other company. I debated that over and over.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Elon Musk
Better Late Than Never
Fortunately, both SpaceX and Tesla made it through this period with Falcon 1’s fourth flight succeeding and Roadster production finally stabilizing.
History has demonstrated that while Musk’s goals can sound absurd in the moment, he certainly believes in them and, when given enough time, tends to achieve them. “He always works from a different understanding of reality than the rest of us,” Ankenbrandt said. “He is just different than the rest of us.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
Often, the main criticism of Elon Musk and his businesses is the tendency to overpromise on delivery dates. Something he himself admits:
“I may have been optimistic with respect to the timing on some of these things, but I didn’t over-promise on the outcome,” Musk told me during an interview after the Model S launch. “I have done everything I said I was going to do.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Elon Musk
Other Quotes I Enjoyed
“One night he told me, ‘If there was a way that I could not eat, so I could work more, I would not eat. I wish there was a way to get nutrients without sitting down for a meal.’ The enormity of his work ethic at that age and his intensity jumped out. It seemed like one of the more unusual things I had ever heard.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Talulah Riley on Elon Musk
I really connected with this quote because I’ve often had the same thought when I get engrossed in a project. Maybe someday, someone will develop a nutrient stim pack or something to solve this problem. It might even be another Elon product.
“I think the time allocated to the businesses and the kids is going fine,” Musk said. “I would like to allocate more time to dating, though. I need to find a girlfriend. That’s why I need to carve out just a little more time. I think maybe even another five to ten—how much time does a woman want a week? Maybe ten hours? That’s kind of the minimum? I don’t know.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Elon Musk
“I came very close to dying,” Musk said. “That’s my lesson for taking a vacation: vacations will kill you.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Elon Musk
Elon contracted malaria while on vacation and was misdiagnosed when we came home. By the time a different doctor saw his chart and got him on malaria drugs, it was almost too late. While on another vacation, the PayPal Board voted him out as CEO before he could defend himself. Both events were very interesting parts of the book I hadn’t heard before.
Elon’s Book Recommendations
Of course, as a book blog, I couldn’t leave out Elon’s book recommendations!
“He listed The Lord of the Rings, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, and Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress as some of his favorites, alongside The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Elon Musk
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future – Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and look into Elon’s life and career. I wish it was more up to date with the events of the last 5 years or I’d read it closer to publication, but it’s still a fascinating read today. If you’re a fan of Elon Musk, often considered a real-life Tony Stark (Ironman), and haven’t read this book, you really should. I feel it gives a much more complete look at who he is than you’ll get in the news.
Get the book now from Amazon or BAM!
“In a weird life-imitating-art moment, Musk really had become the closest thing the world had to Tony Stark, and he could not let his adoring public down.”
– Ashlee Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
What do you think of Elon Musk? Do you follow his accomplishments?
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Glad you enjoyed this book!
Not exactly my cup of tea, but definitely sounds interesting!
This sounds so cool! Biographies definitely get outdated fast, especially the tech ones. I didn’t know about the Malaria and PayPal board, that’s pretty interesting. Sad, but interesting.
Yea, being outdated is a bit of a bummer, but it’s definitely a cool look into Elon’s work ethic and the events that shaped him. Learning the PayPal board had voted him out while he was in the air after landing on vacation must have been quite the shock.
I don’t know much about Elon Musk’s achievements, so this was interesting to reading. I really like how you did this review too!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed my review!
Great review, Elon Musk is an interesting individual. I love technology, so I might need to check this out.
If you love technology, especially any of Elon’s companies, it’s a great read! I hope you enjoy it if you decide to read!
I love this post, I’ve never seen a review of a book like this before! My boyfriend is really interested in space, so I hear about Spacex and their accomplishments all the time. He’s definitely a good businessman!
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed my review! It is a bit different reviewing nonfiction, but I try to write something about everything I read to remember it better.
This was a really interesting post! I’m not into space and technology, but my fiancé is and he really likes Elon Musk, so I’m definitely going to tell him about this book!
Thanks! I hope your fiancé enjoys it!
Wow! I dont know too much about the Man but sounds like his work ethic is incredible! And Love that he recommended Hitchhikers and LOTR’s! Great review 🙂
He definitely has an incredible work ethic and sets lofty goals. I still need to read most of his recommendations but am actually reading The Hobbit right now! Glad you enjoyed the review!
I will recommend this book to my son. He loves space and technology and this book seems to be something he would love to read. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome! I hope he enjoys it!