Elon Musk lives in a world of superheroes, but is he about to fall to earth?

THE writing is poor, the structure chaotic, and the whole project imbalanced.

- Robbie Smith

But this biography of Elon Musk is still fascinating. How could it not be? Musk, as we all know, is the world’s richest person: pushing the boundaries of electric cars with Tesla, of space travel with SpaceX, and of taste with Twitter (or X, as he now calls it).

And what access Isaacson has. He has spoken to practically everybody: to Amber Heard (with whom Musk had a relationship), to Bill Gates, to Jeff Bezos, to Richard Branson, to Grimes and most of all to Musk himself. They’re on midnight texting terms.

The detail is startling, from Tesla’s president lying down in the dark, on the floor of the conference room next to a heartbroken Elon trying to cajole him onto an earnings call, to Musk eating his 47th birthday cake with his fingers in the middle of his factory (nobody had thought to bring cutlery).

Zoom out and the wealth of detail helps answer a big question about Musk: what drives him?

The answer, as he sees it, is an ethical impulse: to save humanity.

This is filtered through formative experiences: reading comic books, a violent and often tough childhood in South Africa,imbibing classical thought, all-night video game sessions, university deadlines, and the development of his capitalist instincts.