Elon Musk

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes descriptions of violence, physical and psychological abuse, and transphobia.

Isaacson describes Musk’s painful childhood as a boy growing up in South Africa. He recounts how, when Musk was 12 years old, he attended wilderness survival camp called veldskool and was treated cruelly. There, bullying was encouraged by the counselors and the kids were encouraged to fight over the small rations of food and water they were given.

Isaacson notes that 1980s South Africa was violent, recounting a time when Musk and his brother, Kimbal, attended an anti-apartheid concert and had to pass by a dead person who had been knifed in the head.

As a child, Musk was bullied by other school children. One day, he was beaten so badly by another boy that he was sent to the hospital. After this incident, Musk’s father, Errol, berated Elon, claiming that Elon provoked the attack.

Elon and Kimbal remember Errol as deceptive, volatile, and abusive. Isaacson notes that Errol’s abuse deeply impacted Elon and that, despite Elon’s attempts to banish Errol’s influence, Elon’s behavior as an adult mirrored some of Errol’s volatility. Isaacson describes what is known as Elon’s “demon mode,” a mode in which Elon enters a dark, intense, and coldly detached emotional state.