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From Tesla Motors to SolarCity to SpaceX, Elon Musk has grown to become one of the wealthiest and influential CEOs in the world. But, how did he get there? In the biography ‘Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future’, former New York Times writer Ashlee Vance details Musk’s rise from a challenging childhood in South Africa to a power of Silicon Valley. If you are interested in Elon Musk, space, electric cars, entrepreneurship, or the future of our planet, this biography is a must.  

In this biography, Vance offers an in-depth look into Musk’s business and personal life. Most of the information collected is directly from the many exclusive one-on-one interviews between Vance and Musk as well as close family, friends, and employees.  

After a lonely childhood in South Africa, Musk managed to gain Canadian citizenship to attend Queen’s University in Kingston but later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania seeking to accomplish his dreams in the United States. After college, Musk formed a few startup companies, most notably Zip2 and X.com which would later, after much controversy, become PayPal.  

In the following years, Musk’s life became filled with tremendous success and grave tragedies. In 2000, Musk nearly died after contracting malaria while on vacation, in 2002, his infant son passed away, and in 2008, the recession almost caused him to lose his fortune. However, after overcoming those struggles, Musk managed to baffle the world and emerge successful with Tesla Motors, SpaceX, and SolarCity. 

 Through this biography, Vance also portrays the importance of hard work and believing in yourself. Creating an aerospace company, before SpaceX, was viewed as a project doomed to fail as many wealthy businessmen had attempted it and lost all of their money in the process. Musk almost shared this same fate, but he instead kept working and managed to launch the Falcon 1 rocket in 2010, eight years after the creation of SpaceX. From then on, SpaceX became a serious competitor as they could build successful rockets at a fraction of the cost of government-run space agencies. Now, SpaceX is a leading charge on the mission to explore Mars.  

Another big theme of this biography is Musk’s controversial and cutthroat work ethic. To achieve the ambitious dream of saving humanity, Musk often works 20 hour days. He also expects his employees to work long hours at the expense of their family life. Most notoriously, Musk once fired an employee by email for missing an event to watch the birth of his child. However, this work atmosphere has paid off for Musk and brought an extreme sense of loyalty from his long-time employees.  

Elon Musk is not the typical CEO. His controversial work ethic has gained him many headlines in the new, but his success is important for the future of humanity. Throughout the biography, Vance does an amazing job using testimonies from all different perspectives that construct a complete picture of Musk’s life. Overall, the biography ‘Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future’ is a must read. 

 Checkout Elon Musk : Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future from the Newport Beach Public Library.