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An Executive Summary of

ELON MUSK
TESLA, SPACEX, AND THE QUEST FOR A FANTASTIC FUTURE
by  Ashlee  Vance

Who  is  Elon  Musk?  

Elon   Reeve   Musk   is   a   Canadian   investor,   businessman,   inventor,   and   engineer.   Born   on   June   28,   1971,   in   South   Africa,  
Elon  had  a  troubled  childhood,  but  that  didn’t  deter  him  from  becoming  the  CEO  of  one  of  the  most  technologically  
advanced  companies  in  the  world.  Elon  serves  as  the  CEO  for  not  only  Tesla  Motors,  but  also  SpaceX.  He  also  works  as  
the  chairman  in  Solar  City  and  is  also  the  cofounder  for  various  companies  including  Paypal  and  Zip2.  If  you  want  to  
know  a  lot  more  about  the  brain  behind  these  companies,  read  the  book:  Elon  Musk.  

Preston  and  Stig’s  General  Thoughts  on  the  Book    

This  was  a  really  fun  and  interesting  book.    Although  Hollywood  has  compared  Musk  to  the  Tony  Stark  
character  in  Iron  Man,  the  reality  of  the  situation  is  he’s  quite  different.  For  example,  Musk  isn’t  one  to  
drink  alcohol  or  participate  in  anything  outside  of  his  precious  work.        

While  reading  the  book  I  got  the  impression  that  money  was  never  the  key  driver  for  Musk.  Money  was  
more  of  a  by-­‐product  of  his  actions  and  determination  to  change  the  world.  For  me,  Elon  Musk  doesn’t  
come  across  as  a  sympathetic  person  or  someone  I  would  ever  want  to  work  for.  Although  his  
accomplishments  are  very  impressive,  his  laser  focus  and  self-­‐interest  of  accomplishing  major  goals,  seem  
to  interfere  with  his  ability  to  treat  people  humanly  and  personally.  Elon  Musk  is  a  person  that  has  set  out  
to  change  the  word,  and  I  think  he’s  going  to  succeed.    If  you’re  looking  for  a  very  interesting  book  full  of  
fun  stories,  you’ll  definitely  enjoy  this  one.  

Chapter  1:  Elon’s  World  

In  this  section,  Ashlee  Vance  introduces  the  readers  to  Elon  Musk.  He  talks  about  how  Elon  has  gained  a  reputation  
and  is  respected  by  some  of  the  most  successful  CEOs,  including  Larry  Page.  According  to  Elon  Musk,  innovation  is  
necessary  but  since  some  of  the  best  minds  in  the  business  are  occupied  in  law,  finance  and  online  businesses,  
innovation  is  hindered.  Elon  thrived  while  applying  his  brains  behind  technology  that  could  prove  to  be  some  of  the  
biggest  breakthroughs  we  have  ever  seen.      

Ashlee   talks   about   Musk’s   career   where   he   founded   Zip2,   when   he   was   just   fresh   out   of   college   in   1995.   Zip2   was  
extremely  successful  and  was  sold  to  Compaq  for  about  $307  million  in  1999.  With  $22  million  as  Musk’s  share,  he  
used   most   of   it   to   start   the   next   venture   that   morphed   into   Paypal.   The   company   was   acquired   by   eBay   for   a  

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staggering   $1.5   billion.   While   other   entrepreneurs   focused   mostly   on   online   businesses,   Musk   invested   about   $70  
million  in  Tesla,  $10  million  in  SolarCity  and  $100  million  in  SpaceX.    

Chapter  2:  Africa  

In  this  section,  Ashlee  describes  how  Musk’s  family  settled  in  Africa  after  traveling  from  Canada.  Musk  excelled  in  sci-­‐fi  
even  as  a  12  year  old.  He  was  introduced  to  the  public  in  1984  when  he  invented  a  sci-­‐fi  game  named  Blastar,  which  
was  published  in  PC  and  Office  Technology,  South  Africa.  Musk  was  a  boy  who  often  blended  reality  and  fantasy  in  his  
mind  to  such  a  point  that  it  was  hard  to  be  separated.  He  was  often  inspired  by  stories  that  spoke  about  changing  the  
world.    

Musk,   as   a   kid,   was   brilliant   and   precocious.   He   would   often   go   into   a   state   of   trance   and   his   parents   wondered   if   the  
kid   was   deaf.   His  mind   worked   in   a   visual   manner  and   blocked  everything  else  while  focusing  on  a  single  task.  As  a  
voracious  reader,  Musk  often  devoured  sci-­‐fi  books  and  it  went  on  to  such  an  extent  that  he  had  run  out  of  books  to  
th
read   when   he   was   just   in   the   4   grade!   Known   as   a   kid   who   knew   it   all,   Musk   failed   to   make   friends   and   was   very  
isolated.  In  fact,  he  wasn’t  even  close  to  his  own  parents.  Later,  as  he  grew  up,  Musk  flew  back  to  Canada  to  pursue  
his  dreams  and  left  his  home.  

Chapter  3:  Canada  

Musk’s  experiences  in  Canada  are  described  vividly  here.  It’s  rather  interesting  to  note  that  Musk  associated  himself  
with  people  who  could  respond  to  his  fantasies.  His  dating  life,  the  odd  jobs  he  took  up,  and  the  perseverance  with  
which  he  pursued  everything  shows  the  kind  of  man  he  is.  After  spending  two  years  at  the  Queen’s  University,  Musk  
joined  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  through  a  scholarship.  His  hunger  for  knowledge  made  him  pursue  dual  degrees  
– bachelor’s  degree  in  Physics  and  economics  degree  at  Wharton  School.

Musk  also  considered  a  career  in  videogames  because  of  his  obsession  with  them  ever  since  he  was  a  child.  Once  he  
realized  that  it  wasn’t  all  that  grand,  he  constantly  daydreamed  about  pursuing  projects  in  three  areas  including  the  
Internet,  space  and  renewable  energy.  He  felt  that  these  areas  would  undergo  a  lot  of  changes  in  the  future,  making  
significant  impacts  on  the  market.  Musk  wasn’t  chasing  money,  but  he  was  forming  a  master  plan  that  would  let  the  
world  know  that  he  wasn’t  just  an  ordinary  entrepreneur.    

Chapter  4:  Elon’s  First  Start-­‐up    

As  Musk  began  to  settle,  he  started  working  at  the  Pinnacle  Research  Institute  where  he  learned  a  lot.  With  various  
scientists  conducting  experiments  on  ultracapacitors  that  could  be  used  as  fuel  for  hybrid  and  electric  vehicles,  Musk  
used  his  time  in  Pinnacle  as  the  basis  for  his  business.  Musk,  along  with  Kimbal,  also  started  exploring  the  arena  of  
internet  businesses  and  they  formed  Global  Link  Information  Network.    Later,  they  named  it  as  Zip2,  and  it  was  
successful  because  it  helped  to  create  a  directory  for  businesses  where  they  could  search  locations.    

With   a   small   office   in   Palo   Alto,   the   brothers   set   up   their   business.   While   Kimball   handled   the   marketing   and   sales  
aspect   of   the   business,   Musk   managed   the   coding.   A   company   named   Navteq   that   was   into   creating   directions   and  
digital   maps   to   be   used   in   GPS   navigation   helped   Musk   merge   both   the   databases   and   set   up   a   system.   With   some  
funds   in   hand,   Musk   and   Kimbal   contacted   newspapers   to   sell   their   service.   Some   of   the   employees   at   Zip2   were  
unhappy   because   of   Musk’s   interference   in   their   work.   As   the   CEO   of   the   company,   Musk   made   it   a   little   hard   for  
other  people  to  work  around  him.    

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Chapter  5:  PayPal  Mafia  Boss  
Musk  wasn’t  a  man  who  just  copied  and  followed  what  everyone  else  was  doing.  When  he  was  working  in  Pinnacle,  he  
approached  his  seniors  to  pitch  his  idea  about  how  they  could  make  billions  of  dollars  for  free  because  they  were  
protected  by  the  government;  however,  the  bankers  refused  it  and  Musk  launched  himself  into  developing  X.com  and  
invested  $12  million  into  it.  It  was  a  financial  start-­‐up  company  and  although  everybody  felt  that  he  was  crazy  to  take  
up  such  an  insane  risk  with  his  personal  money,  Musk  continued  with  it  undaunted.    

PayPal,  another  company  led  by  Peter  Thiel  was  X.com’s  main  competitor  and  although  both  the  companies  merged  
to  conduct  business,  they  fell  out  later  and  Thiel  was  named  the  CEO.  Some  employees  from  X.com  made  it  clear  to  
the   board   that   they   had   no   confidence   in   the   company   and   Musk   was   replaced   by   Thiel.   Although   many   loyal  
employees   felt   that   Musk   was   cheated,   he   took   it   in   his   stride   and   left   the   company   once   he   felt   that   it   was   managed  
by  brilliant  people  who  knew  how  to  handle  such  companies.    

Chapter  6:  Mice  in  Space  

After  the  fiasco  of  X.com  being  ripped  off  from  Musk’s  hands,  he  decided  to  travel  to  Los  Angeles  and  settle  down  
there  with  this  wife,  Justine.  He  picked  Los  Angeles  because  that’s  where  all  the  action  was.  Additionally,  the  idea  that  
it  gave  more  access  to  the  space  industry  was  more  appealing  to  him.  He  associated  himself  with  the  Mars  Society  and  
donated  a  whopping  $100,000  for  their  research  station.  Along  the  way,  he  began  pursuing  a  project  called  “Mars  
Oasis”  where  he  would  purchase  a  rocket  and  use  it  to  create  a  robotic  greenhouse  in  Mars.  The  Musk  team  also  met  
the  Russians  so  that  they  could  buy  a  rocket,  but  once  Musk  figured  that  the  Russians  weren’t  serious  about  his  
proposal,  he  stormed  out  of  their  meeting  in  anger.    

Although  disappointed,  Musk  didn’t  give  up  and  began  thinking  about  making  his  own  rocket  that  was  even  cheaper  
than  what  the  Russians  offered.  In  2002,  he  founded  SpaceX  where  they  would  focus  on  building  their  own  engines.  
SpaceX  started  small,  but  within  a  year,  it  was  a  full-­‐fledged  rocket  factory  and  they  also  unveiled  Falcon1’s  prototype  
in  December  2003.  Although  it  was  a  failure  when  it  was  launched  again  later,  Musk  didn’t  stop  dreaming  about  his  
ambition  to  change  the  world.    

Chapter  7:  All  Electric  

J.B  Straubel,  a  tinkerer  and  a  genius,  was  working  on  electric  cars.  Although  Musk  was  interested  had  diverted  his  
attention  to  ultracpacitors  mostly,  he  found  Straubel’s  ideas  brilliant  and  promised  to  help  him  with  money.  At  the  
same  time,  two  other  individuals  named  Marc  Tarpenning  and  Martin  Eberhard  who  had  founded  NuvoMedia,  were  
also  working  on  electric  cars.  In  2003,  they  incorporated  a  new  company  named  Tesla  Motors  to  pay  homage  to  Nicola  
Tesla.  They  came  up  with  the  idea  of  developing  cars  and  selling  it  directly  to  consumers,  instead  of  relying  on  
partners.    

Since  they  needed  an  investor  to  fund  their  operation  and  since  Musk  was  looking  for  brilliant  projects  that  were  into  
electric  cars,  all  the  three  men  met  and  the  Tesla  team  merged  with  Musk.  With  Musk’s  $6.5  million  investment  in  
Tesla,  he  was  made  the  chairman  and  was  the  largest  shareholder  in  the  company.  A  year  later,  Tesla  had  more  than  a  
hundred  employees  and  was  going  strong.  They  also  built  EP1  (engineering  prototype  1)  from  Roadster  and  this  
allowed  them  to  get  more  investors.  It  became  so  famous  that  they  had  investors  signing  checks  to  buy  their  cars.  
Eventually,  they  began  to  face  too  many  problems  in  the  company  and  Eberhard  who  was  the  CEO,  quit  the  company  
altogether.    

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Chapter  8:  Pain,  Suffering  and  Survival  
Musk  was  a  huge  celebrity  and  was  also  photographed  with  various  celebrities  including  Robert  Downey  Jr.  His  wife  
Justine  also  reveled  in  their  newfound  celebrity  status  and  began  penning  blogs  to  share  their  experiences  as  a  couple.  
This  also  catapulted  Musk’s  name  and  the  press  constantly  wrote  about  this  man  who  was  interested  in  anything  
related  to  space.  However,  when  SpaceX’s  launch  failed  miserably,  and  with  Justine’s  blogs  hinting  that  their  marriage  
was  rocky,  Musk’s  reputation  faltered.    

Musk  also  began  to  face  issues  with  money  and  sold  his  McLaren  for  cash.  Justine  continued  to  blog  about  him  and  
although  they  divorced  each  other,  the  gossips  wouldn’t  just  stop.  Musk  went  on  to  marry  Riley,  but  the  problems  in  
SpaceX  continued.  Finally,  in  2008,  SpaceX  successfully  completed  its  fourth  launch,  but  people  were  unaware  about  
its  deep  financial  trouble.  Some  articles  in  the  press  continued  to  attack  Musk  and  SpaceX  and  Tesla.  The  employees  
lived  in  a  state  of  fear  and  also  contributed  to  keep  the  company  going  as  Musk  began  rallying  around  to  gather  more  
money  to  save  his  company.  However,  Musk  sought  solace  from  the  fact  that  SpaceX  had  received  $1.6  billion  from  
NASA.  Musk,  after  all  his  pain  and  suffering,  had  survived  and  was  recouping  to  lead  his  company.      

Chapter  9:  Liftoff  

As  the  years  have  gone  by,  SpaceX  has  developed  enormously  and  continues  to  do  so.  Although  it  has  several  
competitors,  it  continues  to  satisfy  its  customers  in  a  way  the  others  can’t.  As  the  competitors  need  to  rely  on  Russia  
for  its  machines,  SpaceX  has  an  edge  because  it  builds  all  its  machines  from  scratch.  With  $60  million  used  per  launch,  
the  cost  is  much  lesser  than  what  Japan  and  Europe  charge.  The  company  is  looking  to  reduce  this  cost  further  to  
about  $20  million  by  improving  their  launch  technology.      

Of  course,  there  are  several  negatives  that  surround  any  business  related  to  aerospace,  but  Musk  has  been  able  to  use  
them  to  his  advantage.  In  his  words,  SpaceX  is  not  just  an  ordinary  aerospace  contactor,  but  is  instead  a  hip  place  to  
work  where  they  work  on  revolutionary  techniques  that  can  change  the  world.  While  some  employees  fear  Musk,  
others  love  him  and  adapt  to  the  crazy  hours  they  need  to  put  in  to  work  there.  After  a  competition  held  by  NASA,  
SpaceX  will  receive  $2.6  billion  while  Boeing  will  receive  $4.2  billion  in  order  to  develop  capsules  and  shuttle  people  to  
ISS.    

Chapter  10:  The  Revenge  of  the  Electric  Car  

By  2012,  Tesla  stunned  its  competitors  in  the  industry  when  they  began  shipping  the  very  suave  Model  S  sedan.  With  
the  ability  to  run  more  than  300  miles  with  only  one  charge,  it  offered  a  lot  of  other  perks  to  its  customers.  Tesla  
made  the  entire  experience  of  buying  the  car  a  spectacle  and  before  they  knew  it,  it  was  named  the  best  car  of  the  
year.  Within  a  short  period  of  time,  the  car  was  owned  by  several  celebrities  and  other  wealthy  people,  especially  
from  the  Silicon  Valley.  

If  any  of  the  customers  complied  that  the  car  wasn’t  functioning  well,  Tesla  would  also  offer  a  loaner  to  the  customer  
while  they  repaired  the  sedan.  If  the  car  owners  complained  about  any  glitches,  the  Tesla  team  would  gain  access  to  
the  car  through  their  internet  connection  and  download  software  updates  and  fix  it.  It  was  incredible  because  the  car  
performed  even  better  after  you  bought  it.  Musk  had  eventually  accomplished  what  he  wanted;  however  the  
criticisms  wouldn’t  stop.  When  Ebenhard  sued  Musk,  it  was  extremely  bitter  for  both  the  parties,  but  they  settled  
their  differences  out  of  the  court.  Many  people  say  that  Musk  is  not  the  original  founder  of  Tesla,  but  that  point  is  
moot  because  Tesla  simply  couldn’t  have  been  where  it  is  today  if  it  wasn’t  for  the  sheer  brilliance  and  intelligence  of  
Musk  behind  it.    

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Chapter  11:  The  Unified  Field  Theory  of  Elon  Musk  
In  this  final  chapter,  Ashlee  gives  some  background  about  how  SolarCity  was  incorporated  by  the  Rive  brothers.  
Through  Elon’s  help,  they  began  their  business  in  the  solar  industry  and  installed  solar  panels  to  customers  while  
offering  excellent  service.  Pretty  soon,  the  company  became  extremely  popular  and  Musk  Co.  included  SolarCity,  
SpaceX  and  Tesla.  By  2014,  SolarCity  was  evaluated  at  $7  billion.  All  the  three  companies  seemed  to  move  in  tandem  
with  each  other  since  they  exchanged  information  and  came  up  with  the  best  solutions  to  any  problems.    

It  also  became  tougher  for  competitors  to  attack  SpaceX,  Tesla,  or  SolarCity  individually  since  they  worked  like  one  
single  unit.  When  the  stocks  soared  for  Tesla,  the  other  two  companies  enjoyed  a  surge  in  their  stocks  too.  Musk  has  
been  able  to  prove  everyone  wrong  and  has  handled  the  companies  admirably.  It’s  no  wonder  that  he’s  admired  by  
some  of  the  most  brilliant  CEOs  in  the  world  today.    

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