Seven Disturbing Things I Learned About Elon Musk in the Past 7 Days
An inside look at the eccentric, brash, pompous, and dark side of Elon and the self-improvement value for us
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Dreamer. Visionary. Disrupter. Innovator.
Those are some of the ways people describe Elon Musk. There are others for sure.
What words come to mind for you?
I bet if you hate him, you probably have a few different words in mind right now.
I don’t blame you. He elicits a strong reaction from nearly everyone on the planet.
There seems to be no space between loving or hating him.
Maybe he doesn’t leave us any wiggle room.
His personality is so strong, it feels impossible to be in the middle. Elon’s accomplishments cast a long shadow; a dividing line down the middle.
On one side, his accomplishments seem to be geared to help humanity.
On the other side, they seem to come at a deep cost.
That makes it difficult to see what’s going on. Is he a tech genius or a rich impostor?
Or something more sinister?
Are his advancements good for mankind or a destructive force? The truth is, it’s probably a mix of both.
I want to illuminate who he is.
Not who he is in the headlines we all read. Who he really is, well below the surface of his public image.
I also want to contrast self-improvement opportunities we can take away.
When I started digging, I quickly realized Elon was forged from a dark past.
His path in life has continued in the same manner… dark and dangerous at times. I’m sure you’ve heard some of the headlines — who hasn’t — but what has he accomplished?
The answer to that may depend on how you feel about him.
But if you look at his life objectively, it seems he’s lived in a way that rivals Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, or Benjamín Franklin.
Was there darkness in those inventors as well? Has he impacted mankind in a manner equal to theirs?
I think you can only answer the latter by weighing his actions and the consequences.
But the real value will be extracted from the details of his journey.
What does Elon’s journey look like?
What can we learn and what does it tell us about ourselves?
I spent 7 days taking a deep dive into his life. What I discovered was not at all what I expected.
Elon’s Childhood Years
As I said, they were dark… and brutal.
He took many beatings as a child. In one incident, he was pushed down concrete steps and beaten by two classmates. They nearly killed him.
His life at home wasn’t much better.
His father was verbally abusive, often calling him a moron or idiot.
When you read about his father Errol’s life, there’s not much good to be found. Walter Isaacson — a journalist who spent 2 years observing Elon’s every move — described Errol as part Dr. Jekyll, part Mr. Hyde.
He mentioned how Errol would flip between personalities, unaware that he was doing so.
And he said Elon does the same thing.
Despite the abuse Elon suffered, the adversity he experienced as a child made him stronger. But it also made him cold-blooded.
According to Isaacson, to this day Elon “associates love with pain.” That’s the first thing I find disturbing about him.
Despite Elon’s dark past, we can look at his story and learn a positive lesson.
1. Tenacity comes from adversity
Elon survived his childhood and as he grew, his dreams also developed.
He dreamed of things like rockets and space exploration. Around the age of 11 or 12, he even began experimenting with model rockets and explosives.
And that’s another thing I find disturbing.
Why was such a young boy messing around with chemicals and explosives — items that could have easily killed him?
Where was Mom? Did she approve?
Elon’s mom, Maye Musk was busy working multiple jobs to provide for her family. And her parenting style was a very hands-off approach.
That may be more disturbing.
Regardless of questionable parenting, Elon’s love for Mars comes from reading a science fiction book. The book is called “The Mars Project” by Vernor Von Braun.
It’s not a stretch to say Elon fell in love with space exploration right then and there.
And he hasn’t lost that dream.
One book ignited Elon’s imagination for space exploration. And he’s still shooting for the stars today… or Mars to be exact.
And that brings up a second self-improvement lesson we should keep in mind.
2.Never let your childlike imaginations die
Elon in his 20’s and 30's
Many people think Elon is a fraud or worse, a con artist.
I wasn’t sure. Now I’d say the numbers don’t lie.
Anyone can get lucky with a single business investment — maybe even a couple — but do it over and over and you have savvy.
Luck has very little to do with it… other than timing.
The evidence is pretty clear. Elon is one of those rare personalities who has a gift for transforming theoretical ideas into unimaginable technologies.
And that’s what I find disturbing… will it ever be enough?
Elon Musk has shown he is that kind of man, starting with the sale of Zip2.
He took his profits from Zip2 and rolled them into early PayPal. That was back in 1999.
If you’re not familiar with Zip2 it’s ok, I wasn’t either.
According to Britannica, Zip2 was like a lovechild of Google Maps and Yelp.
When Elon took 22 million and bought a chunk of PayPal, it wasn’t long before it paid off in a big way. In 2008, the payment service was purchased by eBay.
Guess what happened next?
Yep. Elon hit paydirt yet again. This time he took some of the profits and put them into Tesla and SpaceX, and into a company that’s not as well known… Solar City.
I could go on and on but you get the picture. Lesson #3 is pretty clear:
3. Investing your time and money wisely pays off (and a little luck never hurts)
With Elon’s ability to pick out the next project to send to the moon, he must have an extensive business education, right?
Sort of. He went to college but his grades were short of spectacular.
At 17, Musk wanted to escape South African apartheid so he headed to Canada to attend Queen’s College.
3 years later in 1992, he headed to America to study physics and business at the University of Pennsylvania.
He graduated with a bachelor’s in economics and stayed for a second bachelor’s degree in physics. His grades were average in all subjects, except those he was passionate about.
If he didn’t love it, he didn’t try very hard.
But what gives him the ability to pioneer other technologies while still maintaining time to experiment with rocketry and explore space travel?
That would require another story but his childhood reveals one of the reasons.
As a youngster, his brilliant mind was already on full display. While other kids were playing, Elon was often reading for 10 or more hours a day.
Today is no different.
The man reads like the rest of us breathe. Then he takes the knowledge gained and applies it to his unique ability to figure out how things work.
And that’s a great example of self-improvement for us.
4.The most valuable asset you’ll ever own is in your head
Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Jack Dorsey stated how important reading is for self-improvement.
I don’t think it’s a mistake that each of those tech titans said the same thing. But there is something different and disturbing about Elon Musk.
He works between 80 and 100 hours in an average week.
It seems like he never sleeps.
The truth is he doesn’t sleep much. When he does, he often sleeps on the floor of his office or under his desk.
That pattern is dangerous on many levels.
Elon in his 40’s
Most likely Elon is aware of who he is. He knows he’s not built like a “normal” human.
The proof is found in his fixation on details.
According to his girlfriend — Grimes — he’s never content and never stops thinking about the details of any project he’s passionate about.
Although admirable for self-improving and driving the quality of a project, fixating on details can transport a person to the brink of insanity. And that’s the fifth thing I find disturbing.
One thing’s for sure, Elon’s insatiable appetite for the details gives him a superhuman ability to “work things out.”
He can’t rest until he’s figured out how something works... and how to make it better.
His fixation contrasts with another opportunity for self-improvement for us.
5.Never be satisfied that good enough is good enough
Elon is wired differently.
As I researched this story, I kept seeing it over and over. Elon is cold, calculated, and addicted to drama.
He seems to have trouble unless he’s in complete control.
Twitter is a good example.
While I love that he wanted to restore free speech to the platform, he did so with a serial killer’s blade rather than wielding the skilled knife of a surgeon.
But that’s just who he is.
And that’s something else I find disturbing about him. He does only what he thinks is best… and removes anyone who doesn’t agree with him.
Generally, that’s a CEO’s prerogative but Elon has so much power it’s scary.
Think about the areas his companies are dominating:
- electric auto technologies
- space travel
- social media news
- peer-to-peer payments (coming in 2024)
- solar technologies
- AI technologies
- tunneling technologies
- satellite internet service
These are the technologies a James Bond villain would target to take over the world… but they’d only need to get control of one.
Let’s pray he never decides to start his version of SPECTRE. He’s pretty much set up for it.
For us, the improvement lesson is clear.
6.Ignore the naysayers and follow your heart
Let’s recap what we learned about Elon so far
- He suffered many deep childhood traumas
- He’s wired like part scientist, part mad scientist
- He equates love with pain
- He’s cold and calculating
- He has trouble unless he’s in complete control
- He fixates on details
When you look at Elon Musk, his shadow is larger than life.
His 6'1" frame commands the room but it’s his intense nature that sets him apart from those around him.
But when you look deeper, he appears uncomfortable in his skin.
According to those who spend a lot of time around him, he seems almost alien-like at times.
Maybe that’s why making it to Mars is so important to him. He’s looking for a return trip to his home planet.
The same people say he also zones out quite frequently.
I wonder what he’s thinking about.
Is he transported back to some dark or painful memory? Or is he dreaming about the future of space exploration?
I bet he’s thinking about all those projects… and all those details.
For all his quirks, Elon Musk has given us opportunities to dream about the future of space exploration.
He’s also transformed the way we think about the world around us.
Not that long ago, many of his accomplishments seemed like science fiction. Now they’re science facts.
According to his former partner — Peter Thiel — he’s a risk taker.
According to his first wife — Justine — he operates without fear.
I believe it’s those traits that have given him the ability to accomplish so much in his lifetime.
And he may only be getting warmed up.
Elon in his 50's
Elon is still directly involved in several of his companies.
That includes leading SpaceX in the continued pursuit of space exploration. It’s that passion — developed in his childhood — that still holds the biggest place in his heart.
And his vision for a colony on Mars is a wild one.
He plans to transform the dry desolate planet into a lush Garden of Eden. And his vision for a self-improved mankind is equally impressive.
He believes mankind should be an interplanetary species capable of sustaining life on multiple planets.
And that’s the final disturbing thing I learned about him.
Elon Musk has suggested SpaceX could land a spacecraft on Mars 3 to 4 years from now.
And that brings two burning questions to mind. What if we’re not ready for interplanetary travel within that timeframe? Will Elon push forward regardless of the dangers?
Only time will tell.
For us, there’s one final lesson to be learned.
7. Tenaciously pursue your future, no matter how risky
As I conclude this story, I realize it’s a tall task to summarize what Elon Musk has achieved in his lifetime.
There’s so much to take in.
But I think these four words capture his nature the best.
Polarizing. Restless. Fearless. Untamed.
Thank you for reading until the end! — Brett
I hope to receive your feedback and encourage you to check out my other stories.
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References
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- Bénabou, R., & Tirole, J. (2002). Self-confidence and personal motivation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(3), 871–915.
- Capoot, A. (2024). Elon Musk’s X to launch peer-to-peer payments this year. CNBC.
- Crist, R. Paul, T. (2023). Starlink Explained: What You Need to Know About Elon Musk’s Satellite Internet Service. CNET.
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