[How About This Book] Elon Musk Forged by Flaws: "Did You Think I Was Normal?"

Isaacson Interviews Over 130 People Around Musk for More Than 2 Years
Portrays Him Honestly Without Hiding Flaws
Violent Childhood Environment...Grew Up with an Unempathetic Personality
'Do or Die'...Motivated by Danger

"Musk is not stupid, but sometimes he says very stupid things (omitted)... He just doesn't think about the impact his words have on others. He just wants to complete the mission." - Gwynne Shotwell, President of SpaceX

"Musk has shown authoritarian, mean, and dark sides (omitted)... I couldn't stand that side of Musk." - Yoel Roth, employee who worked with Musk right after the Twitter acquisition

"I hate my father and everything he stands for." - Xavier, Musk’s child who transitioned from male to female through gender reassignment surgery

"(Taking a photo of a C-section and sending it to family and friends) fully revealed Musk’s Asperger’s syndrome. (omitted)... He had no idea why I was angry." - Grimes, Musk’s ex-partner

This is the cold evaluation of those around Elon Musk, contained in the eponymous biography about his life. If domestic biographies tend to be closer to hagiographies, Western biographies are more like documentaries, and this book also contains raw, unfiltered assessments. The author is Walter Isaacson, who also wrote Steve Jobs’ biography. He treats Musk’s achievements as they are, without glorifying his life. He captures human flaws and equally highlights the tragedies and successes born from those deficiencies. This contrasts with domestic biographies that inflate achievements and insert ‘resume-style flaws’ just to balance the narrative. As Shakespeare said, "The most excellent person is forged with faults," this book does not hide flaws.

The author evaluates Musk’s side coldly. "Like Steve Jobs, he pushed the people working with him to achieve what was thought impossible, and he didn’t care at all if that made them uncomfortable or threatened. (omitted) Inside him, there is still a child. A child standing before his father."

In childhood, Musk did not receive attentive care. No one scolded him even when he played with rockets and explosives, and Musk himself grew up in a household where he said, "It was surprising that all ten fingers were intact." He habitually repeated, "I don’t want to be alone," but he was always alone. He was an eccentric child. When absorbed in his own thoughts, he did not respond to those around him. Musk described this as "shutting down all sensory systems." At such times, he often disobeyed teachers’ instructions. "Even when a teacher came over and scolded me, I wouldn’t look at or listen to them." He confessed to having Asperger’s syndrome, which impaired his empathy.

Elon Musk in Childhood Photo by 21st Century Books

His father was cold. In childhood, when Musk got into a fight with a school friend and was so badly beaten that his face was hard to recognize, his father stood him up for nearly an hour and scolded him as a "stupid, useless kid." His father was not a psychological support. Elon and his brother Kimbal both said, "Our father had an extreme duality like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." To endure life, Musk shut down his emotions and immersed himself in books and games. The Douglas Adams book he read then, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, later became the foundation for SpaceX’s space exploration.

The painful childhood became the reason Musk was fascinated by danger. In work and relationships, he preferred excitement, anxiety, and sharpness. Those around him testified that Musk "amplified risks and burned the boats so we couldn’t retreat," and "enjoyed risk itself."

The youngest son, Techno Mechanicus, among the three children born to girlfriend Grimes and him.
[Photo by 21st Century Books]

As a result, Musk achieved many accomplishments. Electric cars Tesla, space exploration SpaceX, satellite internet Starlink, brain-digital interface Neuralink, and social media platform ‘X.’ He gained honor and wealth as a figure who revolutionized human life. Bill Gates said, "How you feel about Musk’s behavior is your freedom. But there is no doubt that no one has done more than him to push the boundaries of science and innovation in our time."

However, too many controversies arose in the process of realizing Musk’s dreams. Recognition, consideration, and understanding were erased, causing pain and wounds to many. Musk, who draws strength from the extreme of ‘do or die,’ said that in front of his goals, "I couldn’t see, hear, or feel anything else."

Musk allowed Isaacson to cover his every move for two years. He provided his emails and texts and helped interview about 130 people around him, including adversaries. Despite the risk of exposing his flaws, Musk said, "I didn’t ask to see the manuscript before publication, nor did I exercise any control."

Elon Musk talking with President Barack Obama at Cape Canaveral base in 2010.
[Photo by 21st Century Books]

Thanks to this, the side of the world’s richest man forged by flaws was revealed. He donated sperm to a business associate in his own company for the reason of increasing birth rates and having many smart children, and when he was kicked out of PayPal, he ironically asked to be made a spokesperson, earning ridicule as having ‘celebrity syndrome.’ He was not on good terms with his father, who threatened to ruin him if he didn’t pay money, and with children who hated him. Isaacson said, "If the saying ‘money can’t buy happiness’ is true, there is a measure to support it," and "When he became the richest man in the world, Musk was not happy."

Suffering from bipolar disorder but choosing not to visit hospitals, instead "accepting the pain and channeling it into what I do," Musk said, "If anyone has been hurt by me, I just want to say this: I reinvented the electric car, and now I’m trying to send people to Mars on rockets. Did you really think I would be a calm and normal guy?"