I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary. — Elon Musk
Learning to build rockets is something that most people don’t dream of doing. So, when an aspiring entrepreneur comes across someone who has done it without most things that are deemed necessary for something like this, I tend to pay attention.
Elon Musk has done a lot of great things during his lifetime. He has had a positive influence on the world by creating technology that improves life for everyone. In fact, he’s been so impactful as an entrepreneur and as someone who created one of the most successful tech companies in history, Tesla, that there is a book being written about him. It highlights what exactly makes Elon tick as a must-read biography for those who have an entrepreneurial mindset or those who want to learn from a master, and it shows how you can move forward despite a difficult past.
What Companies Are Connected to Elon?
- Zip2 (1999)
- PayPal (2000)
- SpaceX (2002)
- Tesla (2004)
- SolarCity – Tesla Energy (2006)
- OpenAI (2015)
- Neuralink (2016)
- The Boring Company (2016)
- Twitter (2022)
In 1995, Elon Musk started his first company, Zip2 Corporation. He and his brother, Kimbal, created an online city guide for the newspaper industry. The company was acquired by Compaq Computer Corporation in 1999 for $307 million.
In 2002, Musk co-founded PayPal, an online payments system that was later acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
In 2002, Elon Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. In 2004, he co-founded Tesla Motors, a company that produces electric vehicles.
Musk has also been involved in several other startups, including SolarCity, OpenAI, and Neuralink. He is the founder of The Boring Company.
In 2022, Elon purchased Twitter for a whopping $44 billion to turn the company into a utopian project that initially connected to his x.com vision.
What Are Some Interesting Facts In Elon’s Biography?
Elon Musk’s parents, Maye and Errol, divorced when he was nine years old. He chose to live with his father, who was an engineer. Maye and Errol had very different parenting styles. Maye was more lenient, while Errol was more strict. Elon says that living with his father taught him the value of hard work and determination. Elon credits his success to his parents’ divorce. He says that it made him more independent and resilient.
In his young years, Elon Musk read 10 hours a day. This helped him develop the skills and knowledge he needed to become the successful entrepreneur he is today.
Elon Musk learned BASIC by finishing a 6 months course. He was able to do this by using a Commodore VIC-20 computer that his father bought for him.He has written a video game called Blastar and selled it for $500. The game is a space-themed shoot-em-up in which the player must blast their way through waves of enemy ships. Musk has said that he wrote the game when he was 12 years old, and that it was “a lot of fun” to make.
After he moved to Canada, the future founder of Tesla and SpaceX, had a new job – shoveling dirt in a boiler room for $18 per hour. As he said in social media, he had been “fired” from his previous job and needed to find a new one.
In 1999, after he started x.com, Musk bought a McLaren F1 car for $1 million. Unfortunately, he crashed the car soon after.
Elon has married his college girlfriend Justine in 2000. The couple met at Queen’s University in Canada and have been together for eight years. Just on their honeymoon, he was kicked out from Paypal from CEO position.
Musk has said that he learned a lot about building rockets from books. He would read about rocket science and then try to build his own models.
In 2008, SpaceX and Tesla were literally on the edge of bankruptcy. The companies were struggling to raise money and keep their businesses afloat.
The best people to learn from are those who have had hardships in their lives, but have moved forward anyway after they overcame them—otherwise how will they help others do the same?
Here are some of the best Elon Musk biographies to learn about one of the most exceptional entrepreneur of the 2020s.
What Are The Best Biography Books About Elon?
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance (2017)
I read this biography of Elon Musk because of the mission to innovate. As an entrepreneur, you have to have a vision of what’s possible and the fortitude to go after it. Elon is a true innovator. This book is no hagiography. It paints a picture of a man who is utterly driven to make the world a better place, but who is sometimes wrong, sometimes headstrong, and sometimes confused. Yet, the portrait that emerges is of someone who learns from his mistakes, who is evolving as a person, and who is utterly committed to his vision.
I love Elon Musk and his companies. The book really captures the essence of his drive and vision. It’s an easy read and I highly recommend it for anyone who’s looking to break through any obstacles in life.
This book is definitely our #1 selection for Elon Musk biography.
Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Young Readers’ Edition, by Ashlee Vance (2017)
This is a great book for young readers to get an insight into the life of Elon Musk and motivation how to achieve their own dreams. This book is full of black-and-white photos, so students can see the details, the people, the places, and the things that are important in Elon’s life. This book shows students what Elon Musk has accomplished in his life and what he still has to do.
This is a great book for students to read to get an overview of Elon Musk and his life. The author uses different language to find the attention of the younger generations.
Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX, by Eric Berger (2021)
SpaceX is enjoying a spectacular decade. It has pioneered reusable rockets, owns the largest constellation of commercial satellites in orbit and has proved that it can launch human beings into orbit! It was founded less than 20 years ago, but already it has added 22 new satellites to its orbital fleet sending the total over 50.
SpaceX currently sends up more rockets each year than any other operation no matter if they are private or state-owned. What made SpaceX achieve all this? Mostly, it’s innovation and reliability.
When SpaceX was just starting out, the company’s founder Elon Musk probably didn’t have many people believing SpaceX would eventually become so powerful. After all, it wasn’t long ago that SpaceX was essentially a fledgling startup with only one rocket workable out of an entire fleet.
The engineering task ahead if they wanted to stay afloat financially seemed almost insurmountable to other private companies attempting similar things in the past! But then again, there was no lack of determination and ambition driving Musk and his partners towards their end goal: among numerous other goals for SpaceX , they sought to compete for government contracts against huge aerospace companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing who had hundreds of billions dollars in revenue each year!
Liftoff traces SpaceX’s challenging road to success. Without the support of the aerospace industry, Elon Musk risked everything working on something he believed in, while seeking counsel from other creative people once his idea was up and running. The lessons learned along the way about teamwork, leadership, and customer service are vital to anyone looking for inspiration or reassurance that achieving your dreams really is possible.
Elon Musk: A Mission to Save the World, by Anna Crowley Redding (2019)
I like Elon Musk’s style, he’s an eccentric guy who sees the world differently than the rest of us, this book the author takes you on his journey. Behind the awe-inspiring headlines is the story of an emotionally tormented school boy who through creativity and determination decided to rewrite his story and find his own way to make the world a better place. And to do so with a sense of humor and style.
You’ll learn what pushed him to build his empire and how he did it, the book is well published and the author knows what she’s talking about. The format and language is created for young adult readers to keep them engaged with the pages of the book.
Elon Musk: The Life, Lessons & Rules For Success, by Influential Individuals (2017)
The secret to the incredible success of Tesla and SpeceX, his two most popular companies, is that Elon Musk does everything himself. It’s simple really: you can’t build a better future off the back of somebody else’s hard work — this is true for your business and it’s equally true in your personal life. The more people you involve in an effort, the less efficient they become; everyone needs to do their own thing.
Elon called the real-life Tony Stark, and not accidentally, he is the person of technology and dreams, this book tries to unfold this idea to the readers. The books also summarizes Elon’s so called “rules of success” which is collected by the author group.
Elon Musk: The Biography of a Modern Genius and Business Titan, by Nate Whitman (2019)
Few people in history have had as big of an impact as Elon Musk. The founder of Tesla, SpaceX, and several other startups, Musk has changed the way we think about technology, space travel, and the environment. But how did he get to where he is today?
This book is a detailed account of his life, from his humble beginnings in South Africa to becoming one of the most influential people in the world. It describes his successes as well as some of the challenges he has faced, such as the failed launch of his space exploration company, SpaceX. The biography also delves into Musk’s personal life, including his marriages and divorces.
Hence this book heavily refers Ashlee Vance’s book and research on Elon Musk.
Elon Musk: A Biography of Billionaire Entrepreneur Elon Musk, by Robert Hanson (2020)
Elon Musk has always been a big inspiration for businesspersons. The author did a great job at detailing Elon’s life from his childhood to his early ventures to creating SpaceX and Tesla, and then on to his latest ventures.
The short 70 pages biography was written in a way that was very easy to follow, and was written in a light manner that wasn’t too technical. If you are looking for a biography to read in your limited spare time, this is the one.
This book details the life to date of Elon Musk, the visionary and entrepreneur who we now know.
Elon Musk: Biography of a Self-Made Visionary, Entrepreneur and Billionaire, by B Storm (2014)
Hence the book is written in 2014, this short biography contains interesting early information about Elon Musk. The book is less overwhelming than other biographies with extensive footnotes. It is unpretentious, which makes for a very pleasant mood, and it gives the reader an upbeat portrayal of Elon’s life.
The book also mentions some of the mosti mportant early ventures of Elon like Zip2, X.com and PayPal. Not to mention SolarCity and Hyperloop which was years before Tesla Motors.
This is another short 76 pages biography contains the most important facts and events to Elon Musk.
Conclusion
We hope that one of these Elon Musk biographies was able to provide you with an interesting insight into the man behind SpaceX, Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and Paypal. We are sure that you will enjoy reading about Elon Musk in one of these books. Thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed this lsit article about Elon Musk Biography if you interested more in Elon check out some of the books he personally recommends.
The post Top 8 Elon Musk Biographies For 2022 (Ranked) – Tesla, SpaceX & Twitter appeared first on Joelbooks.
More Stories
No More Baldwin, Morrison, or Green: Clay County District School’s Materials Policy a Book Banner’s Dream
The Best Biographies of 2022
12 Books to Make You Ugly Cry