Elon Musk

by Walter Isaacson

I read (listened to) the Ashley Vance biography in 2018. This covers a lot of the same material, but a lot more has happened in recent years, too. I don’t have careful notes from this, just a few impressions.

Elon can switch between “modes” – deep engineering discussions, “demon mode” (very dark, cruel, firing people in anger), silly (quoting Monty Python).

He has eleven children. The complications are biblical.

• with Justine Wilson (first wife, from 2000-2008), six children:
  • Nevada (died tragically of SIDS at 10 weeks)
  • Griffin and Xavier/Vivian (twins, conceived via IVF, Xavier transitioned to Vivian, hates Elon)
  • Kai, Saxon, and Damian (triplets, IVF again)
• with Claire Boucher (aka Grimes, never married to Elon), three children:
  • X Æ A-Xii (“Ash”)
  • Exa Dark Sideræl (“X”)
  • Techno Mechanicus (“Tau”)
• with Shivon Zilis (Elon was her sperm donor), two:
  • Azure and Strider (twins)

He was also married twice to Talulah Riley, but they had no children together. His first child, Nevada, died of SIDS at 10 weeks.

From an engineering perspective, his relentless push is exciting. But his goals don’t align with mine. He thinks of making mankind multi-planetary as an absolute necessity, for example. Nevertheless, in pushing for electric cars, space travel, and brain control (w/ Neurolink), he’s making amazing advances.