Elon Musk – Tesla, SpaceX, and the Mission to Seek an Unimaginable Future: The Craziest Book About a Billionaire You Might Not Know About

Elon Musk – Tesla, SpaceX, and the Mission to Seek an Unimaginable Future” is a story about the world-renowned billionaire Elon Musk, a real-life Iron Man. No amount of words can truly capture the essence of Elon Musk. If we had to summarize it in just one word, it would undoubtedly be “crazy.”

“Do you think you’re crazy?”

It all starts with this question posed by journalist Ashlee Vance, the author of this book, to our billionaire protagonist. It’s no coincidence that the word “crazy” appears more than 40 times in a book that spans less than 500 pages. It’s because, beyond that “word,” there is nothing that can accurately describe him, or rather, it’s beyond imagination for an ordinary person.

What Elon Musk has accomplished for those who don’t know who Elon Musk is:

Musk wanted a new way of conducting transactions on the internet, so he created X.com, which later became PayPal.

Musk aimed to create an electric car to protect the environment, so he founded Tesla Motors.

What Elon Musk has achieved is truly “crazy” in the imagination of people. Musk established two successful clean technology companies at a time when other clean technology businesses were going bankrupt one after another!

Not stopping there, Elon wanted to revolutionize space travel with lower costs, and thus, SpaceX was born. He never says no to his dreams. He innovates to change the world.

To answer the question of who Elon Musk is, where he comes from, and the great things this billionaire has accomplished, it all stems from humble beginnings. Follow the journey of a boy from remote South Africa, who flew to Canada and then became the mastermind behind PayPal, SpaceX, and much more! This book will meticulously recount all of that for readers, so that when you reach the final pages, you might find yourself, like the author of this book, uttering those familiar words: “crazy“!

Elon Musk’s Entrepreneurial Journey: From Creating Money to Unimaginable Passion for Work

Skipping the first five chapters to delve into the extraordinary “loner” childhood of the South African boy and his journey to becoming a U.S. citizen at the age of 20, readers who are fond of economics might be more interested in how Elon Musk’s first startup came to be and what path Musk took thereafter.

Many American billionaires started by creating an innovative startup from a simple idea, selling it, and becoming multi-millionaires, and then investing in another startup project, continuing to progress and advance. Elon Musk is no exception.

The Amazing Idea

It may seem redundant to mention something that everyone knows. In books about wealth creation, we often hear about the concept of “creating money.” But not everyone can apply it. For Elon Musk, everything started simply when a salesperson from Yellow Pages walked into his office and pitched the idea of an “online directory.” Clearly, the guy knew nothing about the essence of the Internet, but Elon Musk saw a business opportunity in it. In 1995, Elon Musk and Kimbal created the Global Link Information Network, later renamed Zip2, a service that built searchable directories for businesses and connected them with maps (similar to Google Maps later on).

Zip2 was acquired by Compaq in 1999 for $307 million, bringing Elon Musk $22 million after taxes!

After the Zip2 deal, Elon Musk emerged in the media as a “playboy” millionaire. He bought the fastest car in the world at that time, a McLaren, and used it to promote his first online banking brand, X.com, which he created.

The first crazy thing was that he invested all the money earned from Zip2 into X.com as the largest shareholder. He poured money in, constantly losing trust from core staff, and saw a series of X.com co-founders leave, ultimately facing a rising competitor that threatened X.com’s position—PayPal. Later, the two startups merged, and the drama began.

Spending money in a crazy way, Musk was eventually ousted as CEO, and X.com officially became PayPal. Instead of resentment, Musk stayed with the company, serving as an advisor, and it wasn’t until the successful acquisition by eBay for $1.5 billion that all the drama came to an end.

It can be said that PayPal was the place where Elon Musk revealed everything about himself. Despite not handling customer service, brand image, and technological infrastructure well, Elon’s innovative ideas were extraordinary, beyond human imagination. From Zip2 to PayPal, Elon’s wealth continued to grow, from $22 million to $250 million, which is more than a tenfold increase!

Is an Idea Enough to Make Money?

Elon Musk’s girlfriend recalls, “Many of my friends complain that their husbands come home at 7-8 PM, but Elon usually doesn’t get home until 11 PM and still continues working. Not everyone is willing to sacrifice as much as Elon to become who he is now.”

Crazy passion for work and tireless dedication, the essential ingredients of a future startup.

Entrepreneurs might be incredibly excited to hear about some ideas that turned a South African boy into a millionaire at the age of 27, with Elon Musk’s net worth surpassing $250 million just as he entered his 30s. However, behind that glittering success, many will reconsider whether they should follow in his footsteps. Because that’s an Elon Musk who battles with insane work hours, even working until 11 PM without a break, and has been pushed aside, talked about behind his back, and faced countless moments of despair that readers can easily recognize on every page, through the slightly chilly and indifferent prose of journalist Ashlee Vance.

The Turning Point of the Journey: I Want to Do Something Meaningful for Humanity

For entrepreneurs, the stories of starting with minimal capital and amassing great wealth are always captivating. However, the autobiography of these legends is rare. And in this book, the journey to becoming a millionaire is summed up in just two chapters, with some sections even abbreviated. Clearly, it doesn’t offer much help to future business owners and entrepreneurs.

Perhaps readers will forget that the book by journalist Ashlee Vance is titled “Tesla, SpaceX, and the Mission to Seek an Unimaginable Future.” To be more accurate, Elon Musk’s true journey is only just beginning.

After surviving the hardships that left Elon Musk as nothing more than skin and bones, he began to think about doing something different. As we often say, once one is no longer concerned about basic necessities, they begin to dream of their childhood dreams. That’s right, with $250 million, money was no longer an issue for Elon Musk, and he began to dream of sending a group of mice to Mars and bringing them back, along with a new generation of mice!

“Crazy.” Another instance of Elon’s “craziness.” And this time, readers won’t feel the same mockery that surrounded Elon Musk at that time. The birth of SpaceX made Elon’s name known to all of humanity, but behind it lies a unique story that few know—the story of Elon Musk going to buy rockets.

He flew to Russia to buy three rockets, driven by his insane plans to explore beyond Earth. That was the initial plan, but the Russians demanded $8 million for each rocket, which angered Musk, so he returned home.

And then, he conceived the idea of building his own rockets to send equipment into space at a much lower cost than usual.

In 2002, SpaceX was born with a mission like that.

And the mission to seek an unimaginable future is only just beginning.

It would be unfortunate to stop writing about these amazing things, but if readers aren’t allowed to discover the meticulous description of SpaceX’s subsequent steps in the last four chapters, this review would be incomplete. Yes, with Elon Musk, everything is still ongoing, the thirst for conquest and doing “crazy” things continues to grow stronger every day.

A Few Words About the Author

Ashlee Vance, born in 1977, is a journalist specializing in business reporting for Bloomberg Businessweek magazine. He is known for his writings in the fields of business and technology, covering major companies such as IBM, HP, Intel, and Dell.

The book “Elon Musk – Tesla, SpaceX, and the Mission to Seek an Unimaginable Future” is Vance’s most famous work. It was published on May 19, 2015, and has been listed on the New York Times Bestseller list.