Includes bibliographical references (pages 619-636) and index

"From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era--a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter"--,Provided by publisher

As a kid in South Africa, Musk was regularly beaten by bullies; he once was in the hospital for a week after a beating. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist. Musk developed into a man-child, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive. In 2022, after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth, Musk was secretly buying up shares of Twitter. Now he had a chance to own the playground. Isaacson fills in the tales of triumphs and turmoil, addressing the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress? -- adapted from jacket