Unmasking the real Elon Musk
HIS mother hails him a genius (of course she does), friends say his achievements should be celebrated, but enemies blast him “unstable” and “reckless”. Who exactly is the real Elon Musk?
This three-part series charts the rise of the geeky South African with no friends and a love of tech, to now the world’s richest man (current net worth around $250bn).
It’s the enigmatic, compelling and controversial inside story, as told by his exwives, family, friends and enemies.
Using extensive archive footage taken throughout his life, from South Africa to Silicon Valley, the series analyses the key moments in Elon’s career, from his first start-ups during the tech goldrush through to Tesla and Spacex. Beginning in 1995, at the start of the Silicon Valley tech boom, Elon Musk is a nerdy young entrepreneur battling to make his fortune, while sleeping on the floor of his office and washing at the local YMCA. In San Francisco, Elon begins his ascendency, using his genius to build and sell a major new internet technology business.
By the age of just 28, he is a multi-millionaire.
His mother Maye Musk says: “As a teenager he didn’t have many friends but he read through the night, a lot of science fiction.”
Aerospace engineer Jim Cantrell tells how he laughed when Elon spoke of “his goal of making humanity a multiplanetary species”, but soon there are real plans to build rockets.
Then Elon falls in love with glamorous British actress Talulah Riley.
She says: “We went back to his hotel room to look at rocket videos. I thought it was quite sweet.”