Elon Musk - Walter Issacson

[Ulti]

https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musk-twitter-x-takeover-walter-isaacson-5f553fa?st=k43d5jrornks4dq&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

 Excerpt is about Musk and buying Twitter. Book comes out next month.. should be a great read

[Ulti]

Sorry for the repeat post did"nt see it on the twitter thread

[Xerxes]

I have never read a book written by Walter. Never got around it. Looks like he has written some heavy hitters, Including Steve Jobs, Einstein (I have a copy), and a book of Genetic coding “code breaker” (I have a copy)

This is new podcast with Walter, Elon and Lex. I have not listen (yet) to it but thought some would be interested. 
 

[UK]

2 hours ago, Xerxes said:

I have never read a book written by Walter. Never got around it. Looks like he has written some heavy hitters, Including Steve Jobs, Einstein (I have a copy), and a book of Genetic coding “code breaker” (I have a copy)

This is new podcast with Walter, Elon and Lex. I have not listen (yet) to it but thought some would be interested. 

 

The book on Jobs is also very good, for me the best, related to Big tech.

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by UK

[schin]

On 8/31/2023 at 3:16 PM, Ulti said:

https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musk-twitter-x-takeover-walter-isaacson-5f553fa?st=k43d5jrornks4dq&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

 Excerpt is about Musk and buying Twitter. Book comes out next month.. should be a great read

 

I finished reading the book this week. Classic Issaccson. I liked it, but felt they spend a lot of time on his latest Twitter investment. It's interesting, I feel like they glossed over his time on X.com/Paypal. I read PayPal "The Founders" book, which wasn't about Elon... but, gave more detail and richness to this personality during that time. 

 

I have to admit the guy works hard.... I knew he was hardcore, but you get a lot of his demon mode episodes.  As always, it always comes at a cost.

 

Decent read.

[Ulti]

Cant wait to read ... I loved his biography of Einstein

[schin]

43 minutes ago, Ulti said:

Cant wait to read ... I loved his biography of Einstein

 

His Steve Jobs book was solid. Might be my favorite of them all.

[wolverine890]

I just finished this. One thing I was surprised by was Musk's focus on cost. I am curious was to what Munger would have thought of him had he read this book. In some ways he reminds me of a manager that Munger and Buffett would have enjoyed in their younger days... then in other ways not so much.

[oscarazocar]

The part on Musk's algorithm for operating companies is very good.  The algorithm, plus his raw intelligence and intense focus, are the reasons for his unusual success.

 

https://medium.com/@alastairallen/the-musk-algorithm-c241d9d0ee3d

[bargainman]

On 9/10/2023 at 8:03 PM, UK said:

 

The book on Jobs is also very good, for me the best, related to Big tech.

 

 

You have to take him for what he's like which is that he's not knowledgeable enough about the industry to really see things as they were or are.  He got attached to Jobs, and has/had the reputation of being 'soft' on his subject.  Apple didn't like his biography of Jobs since they didn't think it was an accurate representation.  In fact they 'endorsed' a different one.  

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-execs-criticise-steve-jobs-biographies-2015-10

 

That's not to say he's a bad writer or biographer, just that he's biased and flawed like anyone.

[TwoCitiesCapital]

I'm not finished - but the book has definitely improved my impression of Musk. 

 

I was unaware of how involved he actually was with the start of Tesla prior to taking control. Same with OpenAI. His contributions are even more impressive and his work-ethic is maniacal. 

 

That being said, it also doesn't paint him the best light when it comes to home life and how he treats others when he's in one of his moods and what he expects from others who work for him who aren't necessarily devoting their entire lives to launching an electric vehicle. It's also obvious to me now why Tesla had all of the quality control issues it has when he was "deleting" even minor details like going from 6 bolts down to 3 to secure things. 

 

There's absolutely good to his approach of "delete, delete, delete" and hope for the best. And while that is excellent for cost control and efficiency, the cavalier attitude in which it is approached echoes his attitude towards things auto-pilot deaths which are problematic when we can point to competitors like Google who have none. 

 

Overall - it's a good read. And leaves you with a mixed impression of Musk.

Edited March 20 by TwoCitiesCapital

[ASTA]

Great book

cannot  remember so much of this guy in the book Antonio Gracias I think a bit but a good refresher and story 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/phoebeliu/2024/03/22/how-elon-musks-buddy-rode-tesla-shares-to-become-a-billionaire/

 

[bargainman]

Interesting interview from Karpathy (one of the AI luminaries) on what makes Elon unique

 

 

[schin]

21 hours ago, bargainman said:

Interesting interview from Karpathy (one of the AI luminaries) on what makes Elon unique

 

 

 

How different is this from Jeff Bezos and Amazon? Or Steve Jobs wanting small, technical teams of creatives?

[formthirteen]

On 3/29/2024 at 7:14 AM, bargainman said:

Interesting interview from Karpathy (one of the AI luminaries) on what makes Elon unique

 

Thanks. Elon's management style is the opposite of ”designed by clowns…supervised by monkeys”.

[Saluki]

Listened to the audiobook over the weekend.  It's really well done and with inside access.  I wouldn't want to compete with Elon, he's a madman, but it's clear that from being around him a lot, Isaacson sort of takes Musk's side on things, even when he's clearly in the wrong.  Part of that is probably because if you are spending a good chunk of your life writing about something, you will have a soft spot for it.  When people write about the Comanche, they revere their prowess with a horse and bravery in battle.  They don't start writing about them and then say "I've changed my mind, they were actually genocidal sociopaths who tortured people for fun, raped and murdered settlers and other Indian tribes, kidnapped children, and never developed an advanced culture like the Aztecs."  Isaacson never calls out the mental acrobatics that Elon does to justify doing what is in Elon's best interest. He bans the guy who tracks his plane from Twitter (because safety!) and then bans the reporters who write about it for the same reason.  But he leaks the name of the guy who was in charge of content moderation, who later got death threats at home and had to sell his house and move.  Elon's got private security, but banning the plane guy was a legitimate safety move, but picking on this guy was okay? 

 

And the weird prickly behavior, like arguing with Twitter users, or rage posting and sharing fake news articles like Trump is disturbing. He's genuinely a bad person. His dad is a monster, but that doesn't excuse his behavior. Trying to pretend that he isn't insensitive to trans people when he makes jokes at their expense by stating that his kid is trans, is weak. His kid won't talk to him and changed his last name to his mom's because he can't stand Elon. Spending hours a day playing video games, but not reading his wife's novels, shows that it's all about him. The weird dick-measuring rivalry with Bezos over spaceships is funny, but despising Bill Gates because he shorted Tesla is just thin skinned nonsense. 

 

This is a fascinating book about a rich, brilliant, and despicable human being. 

 

[Blake Hampton]

1 hour ago, Saluki said:

Listened to the audiobook over the weekend.  It's really well done and with inside access.  I wouldn't want to compete with Elon, he's a madman, but it's clear that from being around him a lot, Isaacson sort of takes Musk's side on things, even when he's clearly in the wrong.  Part of that is probably because if you are spending a good chunk of your life writing about something, you will have a soft spot for it.  When people write about the Comanche, they revere their prowess with a horse and bravery in battle.  They don't start writing about them and then say "I've changed my mind, they were actually genocidal sociopaths who tortured people for fun, raped and murdered settlers and other Indian tribes, kidnapped children, and never developed an advanced culture like the Aztecs."  Isaacson never calls out the mental acrobatics that Elon does to justify doing what is in Elon's best interest. He bans the guy who tracks his plane from Twitter (because safety!) and then bans the reporters who write about it for the same reason.  But he leaks the name of the guy who was in charge of content moderation, who later got death threats at home and had to sell his house and move.  Elon's got private security, but banning the plane guy was a legitimate safety move, but picking on this guy was okay? 

 

And the weird prickly behavior, like arguing with Twitter users, or rage posting and sharing fake news articles like Trump is disturbing. He's genuinely a bad person. His dad is a monster, but that doesn't excuse his behavior. Trying to pretend that he isn't insensitive to trans people when he makes jokes at their expense by stating that his kid is trans, is weak. His kid won't talk to him and changed his last name to his mom's because he can't stand Elon. Spending hours a day playing video games, but not reading his wife's novels, shows that it's all about him. The weird dick-measuring rivalry with Bezos over spaceships is funny, but despising Bill Gates because he shorted Tesla is just thin skinned nonsense. 

 

This is a fascinating book about a rich, brilliant, and despicable human being. 

 

This was a great summary and I guess in the end, it all comes down to perspective. I haven't read the book but do you mind explaining the context behind "His dad is a monster."

[Saluki]

37 minutes ago, blakehampton said:

This was a great summary and I guess in the end, it all comes down to perspective. I haven't read the book but do you mind explaining the context behind "His dad is a monster."

 

Well, according to Elon and family, he was physically and psychologically abusive.  He tried to falsely take credit for a lot of Elon's accomplishments by claiming to have sent him to America and being an investor in Paypal. As a child, when Elon was beaten unconscious and hospitalized, his dad blamed Elon for provoking the kid. He used to send Elon and his brother to some summer program that was more Lord of the Flies, than a camping experience. According to news reports he killed 3 home invaders in South Africa.  In the book, it mentioned when he visited the US he was acting very possessive of his 15 year old stepdaughter.  She joined the family at 5 and Elon and his siblings considered her a sister. Elon was creeped out and tried to get them to stay and send his dad away to head off whatever weirdness was happening.  If you google his dad, you will see that he had 2 kids with his step daughter. Etc etc.