Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk biography by Ashlee Vance
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is shaping our future by branching into space travel and battery production. Is he insane?
Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future, by Ashlee Vance (Penguin Random House).
South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk is another self-made entrepreneur who is changing our lives. Now based in California, Musk was involved with the founding of PayPal and is now trying to commercialise the up-market sporty electric car, the Tesla. He has pushed ahead with a private sector space business and is trying to deliver the world batteries with the potential to revolutionise solar power.
US tech journalist Vance pursued Musk for 18 months before he agreed to be part of the book. Painstakingly put together with interviews of some 300 people who have known Musk over his career and some 30 hours of conversations with Musk, the book shows a man with a passion for machinery and technology, a relentless drive and energy who refuses to give up on his groundbreaking dreams.
Vance opens the book with a question which Musk asks him: “Do you think I’m insane?”
Certainly the books shows his manic drive, combined with high-level technical skills, a save-the -world ideological bent and a capacity to drive staff relentlessly.
Musk understood the potential for online banking and payments; or making electric cars look sporty and cool; or mega batteries running homes on solar power, way before most people even thought about them.
“History has demonstrated that while Musk’s track record can sound absurd in the moment, he certainly believes in (his ideas) and, when given enough time, tends to achieve them,” Vance writes.
Employee engagement brings big rewards to employers
Those in the list of The Australian’s Best Places To Work 2025 can hope to be benefitting from improved productivity, lower sick absence, lower staff turnover and better commercial performance.
Performance across six-step framework is a must for the best
The Australian Best Places to Work survey uses 35 questions from WorkL’s employee engagement survey to most accurately monitor employee engagement and wellbeing in the workplace.