Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Abstract

Elon Musk Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Ashlee Vance, Harper Collins, 2015, $21.03 (hardcover), 390 pages reviewed by Dr. Michael E. Dobbs Eastern Illinois University, USAWHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR preserving the human species in case of disaster? It's OK if you haven't thought about that very much because apparently that question occupies much of Elon Musk's time and attention as described in Ashlee Vance's biography Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Vance, a Bloomberg BusinessWeek writer, describes Musk's major business ventures-Zip2, X.com which morphed into PayPal, SpaceX, Solar City, and his most high profile company, Tesla Motors. But Vance also delves into Musk's personal life and background and adeptly peels back the public projection to reveal defining personal experiences, leadership qualities, and unusual motivations like actually saving the human race from extinction.As for specific chapters, the first and last chapters are summaries of Musk's life and business ventures. There are two chapters devoted to his early life prior to his startups which may be of particular interest to younger readers (i.e. students). The schoolyard bullying that actually landed Musk in the hospital at one point, the parental split and the mind-games his father played, and his solo escape to his maternal family's home of Canada as a route to get to the U.S. may all be relatable and inspirational to many. However, readers also are introduced to the less common traits of Musk in these early chapters such as his photographic memory, high IQ, and extreme social awkwardness (to put it mildly).Musk's seemingly superhuman work ethic and programming skills come to the fore in the chapter describing his first venture with his brother Kimbal during the nascent days of the internet in 1995. What became known as Zip2 was a company that combined online company listings with navigation-enabled online maps. In the days before MapQuest (much less Google Maps), this was a revolutionary idea but a tough sell. Musk's lack of leadership and interpersonal skills hampered his ability to effectively lead the company and he was forced out as CEO. However, the experience and the $22 million he received when the company was acquired by Compaq launched him into his next venture.Always the visionary, Musk next tried to tackle the banking industry using disruptive online technology and incorporated X.com. As Vance puts it, "a finance start-up with a pornographic-sounding name." Surviving an attempted leadership coup only five months into the venture, Musk rallied his remaining troops, recruited new engineers, and launched one of the first online financial companies with more than 200,000 people signed up in just a few months and more than a million in short order. But other companies soon followed, including Confinity (with co-founder Peter Thiel) and its successful product, PayPal. In March of 2000, the two firms merged and Musk emerged as CEO of the combined entity. But once again, Musk's know-it-all demeanor, confrontational style, overwhelming demands of employees, and substantial ego pushed many of the leadership team to conspire against him and get the board to replace Musk with Thiel as CEO. And also again, Musk came away from the experience richer ($250 million this time from eBay's purchase in July, 2002) and more resolved than ever to do things his way and remain in control.As he was transitioning out of X.com (renamed PayPal in 2001) and recovering from a bout with malaria that nearly killed him, he rekindled his interests in his childhood fascination with science fiction and space travel. Living in Los Angeles because of its concentration of aerospace companies and engineers, Musk began networking with other space enthusiasts and eventually joined the board of the Mars Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the exploration and settlement of Mars. …