We are getting a lot more books about Elon Musk than we need, regardless of whether the world has a lot. Liftoff: Elon Musk's Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX was published in March 2021 by Eric Berger, Ars Technica's space editor. Here's the comprehensive sequel from Musk's electric car-making business life.Wall Street Journal tech reporter Tim Higgins paints a darker picture of Musk's Power Play: Tesla and Elon Musk. Yes, Elon Musk is still visible in Ashlee Vance’s 2015 bestseller. We also see, thanks to many former executives and Tesla employees who are still there, a shifty and angry figure who seems to have consumed too much of the Kool-Aid that his stooges offer online.Higgins summarizes the dilemma of Tesla's carmaker by writing, "While Musk’s vision, enthusiasm, and determination carry Tesla," Higgins writes. Musk's obsession with Twitter was evident before his addiction. He was addicted to wasting time on vengeance and rage. Higgins relates how Musk lied many times, made a mess of his suppliers and partners, made deals to benefit himself (such as buying Solar City from his brother), bought mansions and claimed he was virtually penniless before telling the divorce courts.Tesla is almost a disaster for itself. Its world-changing product was built on a pile of Musk promises and huge debts. Musk's P.T. has helped the company avoid bankruptcy multiple times. Barnum's bluster is partly due to luck, but mostly because of the hard work and dedication of true-believer employees. They are often ignored by their bosses and leave with alarming regularity. It doesn't seem like the CEO has the best idea of how to retain talent.Here are some of the most striking quotes about Musk that Power Play has attributed to Tesla.1. "I want to be a very rich board member and investor. That's all that I'm looking for."Laurie Yoler to Elon MuskYoler was a friend and VC-connected to Martin Eberhard who was helping him find potential investors for his electric car startup. Sergey Brin, Google's chief search engine officer, suggested Elon Musk as a friend. Yoler knew that Musk was difficult. He had been fired as CEO of PayPal, but still had an eye on it. He would have to agree with Eberhard in order to move for control.We know now that he would and did, but this is how Musk assured his soon-to-be-colleagues that he would be a mostly inactive chairman. Four years later, Eberhard was fired.2. "We either do that or we die."Darryl Siry to Elon MuskTesla almost died in 2008 due to the financial crisis. Musk replaced three CEOs within a year and then installed himself. He cut spending while trying to fill preorders for Tesla’s first Roadster. These orders were not enough, so Musk devised a plan to unveil a Model S design and take preorders despite the fact Tesla didn't have a prototype of the Model S. The prototype project was restarted after the team that worked on it was fired.Darryl Siry, Tesla's sales chief, told Musk that it was unethical for him to accept deposits for the Model S without actually planning to build it. Musk responded with this quote. This plan was successful and Musk would use it over and over again. Higgins describes the Musk credo like this: "Announce something, then find out how to make that happen."3. "Sales suck. They don't just suck the sales.Elon MuskMusk summarized the Roadster's first 2 years of existence with this colorful phrase. Did it have to do with Musk's refusal to allow his sales team to do advertising or marketing? Musk often uses a phrase that summarizes his thoughts: "No, it's not the children who are wrong." The car should be selling its own.It didn't happen. It wasn't until Musk met George Blankenship, an Apple store veteran and was wooed by him. He flew to Florida to meet Blankenship the next day after they had spoken on the phone. Musk had always envisioned Tesla as an Apple-like business; Blankenship took that idea to the next level with two test Tesla stores in Denver, San Jose and surprised himself with twice the foot traffic. Visitors helped spread the word about Musk's vision, even though Blankenship heard two people in San Jose believe that Tesla is a "new Italian restaurant."4. "Fuck you!"Tim Cook, Apple CEO to MuskMusk didn't simply see Tesla as an Apple-like business. He tried twice to sell the company, once to Apple and once to Google friends. Talks with Google were quite advanced until Tesla received a cash injection post-financial crises. According to Musk, this was Tim Cook's last word before he shut down the phone.Cook is a sanguine leader who decided to fire an F-bomb at Musk. Musk insists that he would need to be the CEO if Apple buys the carmaker. Cook was right at first. We would love to have you at the helm at Tesla. Musk said that I would have to be Apple's CEO. It is a remarkable feat of self-destructive ego to tell Cook that he would need to be deposed to make a deal.One caveat: Apple will not confirm the quote. Higgins also notes that "the story played into Musk’s vision of Tesla being on par with Apple."5. 5.Elon MuskMusk was seen storming out of a SpaceX conference to decide the language for marketing materials for Tesla’s 2011 IPO. This tells us three things. First, Musk was clearly a multitasker. He had three companies that would change the world, including Solar City, to assist him in getting off the ground. He was also over-exerting himself to the point where his chief of staff would inform him before he arrived at any of the companies if Musk was feeling stressed by problems at another.Thirdly, he was making his stress worse through being what Higgins calls "a nanomanager." Musk was meticulous about details. There was no way to be too many weeds when Musk was so focused on the details. Musk was a skilled writer and would argue with bankers and lawyers about the phrasing for the IPO prospectus. He threatened to fire them if they didn't make it more exciting. Musk's early years at Tesla were likened to eating a sandwich every day. This is probably why he has a large workload.6. "I will sell you whatever suspension you need to be able to buy a lot of cars. That's what I want."Musk is an anonymous engineer working on his private planeNo Nanomanager, Musk may not care much about mechanical engineering. This is a fundamental aspect of car building like the suspension. It's that little thing that helps you keep your vehicle in control and doesn't make you feel every pebble on the road.Musk may have also thought up an engineering feat, and in that case, you couldn't get your claws out from the poor engineers responsible. You will be fired if you tell him that it is impossible.Higgins was told by an anonymous Tesla manager that "we'd train our employees that they wouldn't say no" to Musk. Instead, they were instructed to tell their managers to "check on this" and hope that Musk forgets about it. You'd be wrong if you think this sounds like White House staffers following the directives and orders of their bosses. Musk comes out of this story looking a little Trumpy.7. "Elon, this is to show you that I can do it, but you shouldn’t do it."Peter RawlinsonMusk and Peter Rawlinson had a difficult relationship. Rawlinson was a British engineer who worked with Jaguar and Lotus, and is now the CEO at Tesla rival Lucid. Musk was mentored by Rawlinson in many ways. He taught him how to build cars using "paratroopers", rather than the traditional Detroit "armies" that are made up of assembly-line workers. It was a simple metaphor. "Paratroopers?" Musk, the eternal child's smile lit up. "You mean special forces?"Rawlinson was the one who informed Musk that the first Model S crew was not working and should be disbanded. Rawlinson was the one who took Musk's sole instruction to "beat [BMW]5 series" and made it into Model S success. Soft-spoken Brit, Rawlinson, would often declare that his soul was in Model S.Rawlinson was the one who tried unsuccessfully to convince Musk that the Model X's "gullwing" backdoors should not be replaced by the regular doors. They were built by Rawlinson out of loyalty and professionalism.The back doors of the X were undoubtedly eye-catching when it was released in 2015. However, reviewers criticized them for being "gimmicky and fussy". A software glitch meant that sometimes they did not open or latch correctly the first year. Rawlinson had left Musk's company in 2012, with his relationship in disarray.8. "[Tell] me who you are and what you're doing for my goddamn line."Musk introduces himself to a new engineering group on the Model 3Power Play could have been called "Elon Brusque" if it were more playful. It is not uncommon to see the CEO being impatient and verbally whale on staff members or visitors. One manager was told by the CEO that he would cut his skull open to mark his brain as F for failure. He told an engineer who was trying to reduce component cost that he would never use the term budget again. "Get this guy the fuck off of here!" He screamed at Bill Wolters (70-year-old lobbyist for Texas car dealerships)It wasn't because of the Solar City merger that 50 VPs quit Tesla within a 24 month span. The company was being walked out of all the time, including one instance in which Musk was investigated by the board for following a quit engineer into the carpark and screaming at him that anyone would quit on him.Musk would sleep in the factory during crunch time, making matters worse. Musk would listen to workers complaining about small things, such as the fact that they were injured at a higher rate than the industry average, and would want some time off. Musk shouted, "I can be on a private island with naked supermodels and drinking mai tais," at the end one evening. "But I'm not. I'm working in the factory, so I don’t want to hear how hard the other workers work."9. "I'm a fucking idiot."Elon Musk Email to a PR ConsultantIf he were a rage-monster, Tesla would be empty. Musk's Jekyll and Hyde side is that he's charming and doesn't believe hierarchy. He encourages everyone at Tesla to speak to him without permission and has a need to have fun as much as he works. Musk sent an email containing perks to keep his workers from unionizing, saying "It's going be crazy good."Sometimes Musk's good side can also be self-aware. This email was sent to a PR representative and is now publicized in court documents. He realized that he had gone too far when he sent BuzzFeed reporter all sorts of allegations about Vernon Unsworth, a Thai cave rescuer. Musk realized this and agreed to an interview to dispel questions about his mental state. He then smoked a blunt on Joe Rogan's podcast.10. "Most of the information in this book, although not all, is nonsense."Elon MuskHiggins, who had previously interviewed Musk, repeatedly emailed him to allow him to respond to any allegation that he was about publish. The reporter points out that Musk only gave him the "nonsense" line, and he did not point to any inaccuracies. Higgins allows him to use it as his last word. Decide for yourself whether to trust a Wall Street Journal reporter with impeccable sources or a well-known fabulist who doesn't care to refute one word.No matter who has the truth, Musk's past is still controversial and the Elon Musk book market is only beginning.
