Connect with us

International

Musk biography describes troubled tycoon driven by demons

Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk offers insights into the entrepreneur’s turbulent life, driven by childhood experiences and a Mars obsession.

The book explores Musk’s vindictive tendencies and impulsive decisions, with mixed reviews from critics.

Published

1 year ago

on

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES — A hotly anticipated biography of Elon Musk describes the turbulent tycoon as a man driven by childhood demons, obsessed with bringing human life to Mars and who demands that staff be “hardcore.”

“Elon Musk” is written by star biographer Walter Isaacson, a former editor-in-chief of Time magazine who is best known for his best-selling portrayal of Apple founder Steve Jobs as well as his looks into the lives of Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci.

Some US media outlets got early access to the more than 600-page book ahead of its official global release Tuesday, and several excerpts were published in recent days.

Hours before its release on Amazon, advance orders had made “Elon Musk” the site’s best-selling book in the United States.

Much of the billionaire’s early life is already well known, with attention focused on his abusive and manipulative father Errol, who Musk despises.

The book proposes that Musk is driven by what his former partner Grimes calls the “demon mode”, which, according to Isaacson, makes him highly productive and is common among overachievers.

Many of the account’s unknown nuggets come from a more recent period, when Isaacson shadowed his subject with fly-on-the-wall access into his everyday life.

A widely reported passage recounts how Musk personally scuttled a plan by the Ukrainian military to carry out a major operation in Crimea by denying Starlink internet access, drawing a furious response from Kyiv.

But Isaacson was forced to walk back his description of the episode after Musk tweeted that the Starlink access was not yet up and running in Crimea at the time of his decision.

Musk’s chaotic and impulse-driven takeover of Twitter (now renamed X) also gets a lot of attention, with the billionaire seen as struggling to recognize that technology and sheer will power will not create miracles.

Another recurring theme in Isaacson’s telling is Musk’s vindictive tendencies toward doubters and critics.

Lacks ‘Critical lens’

After acquiring Twitter late last year, Musk and his closest lieutenants combed through email and social media, and immediately fired dozens of employees who had criticized the new owner. Eventually two-thirds of the 7,500 strong staff would be axed.

In another episode, Musk defied warnings and with the help of a small team moved critical servers out of a Sacramento data center to cut costs, which led to a series of major outages.

He also refused to join forces with Bill Gates on charity endeavors because the Microsoft founder had bet against the success of Tesla on the stock market.

The book also says that Musk, who frets about depopulation, now has 10 children, including a previously unknown child with on-and-off-again partner Grimes.

He has also fathered twins as a sperm donor with Shivon Zilis, an executive at Musk-owned company Neuralink.

Reviews of the book have been mixed, with the Washington Post praising the reporting but disappointed that Isaacson “prioritized revealing anecdotes and behind-the-scenes reportage over a sophisticated critical lens.”

Influential US tech pundit Kara Swisher said the book told the story of a “sad and smart son (who) slowly morphs into the mentally abusive father he abhors.”

“Often right, sometimes wrong, petty jerk always,” Swisher said of Musk’s portrayal in the book.

— AFP

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

International

Team Liquid wins The International 13 Dota 2 Championship, defeats Gaimin Gladiators 3-0

Team Liquid won The International 13 Dota 2 championship, defeating Gaimin Gladiators 3-0 in the grand final. The victory secured Liquid’s second TI title and over US$1.15 million in prize money, with Neta “33” Shapira becoming a two-time champion.

Published

3 hours ago

on

16 September 2024

By

Team Liquid has claimed the title of world champions at The International 13 (TI13) Dota 2 tournament, defeating Gaimin Gladiators 3-0 in the grand final. Despite entering the match as underdogs due to their history of losing grand finals, especially against Gaimin Gladiators, Liquid delivered a dominant performance to secure their second TI victory.

Dota 2, a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Valve, is one of the most popular esports titles in the world. In this competitive game, two teams of five players each battle to destroy the opposing team’s base, known as the “Ancient,” while defending their own. The International, Dota 2’s premier annual tournament, is widely regarded as one of the largest and most prestigious events in the esports industry.

Liquid, one of the favourites going into the event, dispelled doubts with their commanding win. This marks their second International title, the first being in 2017, and the first with their current roster. Neta “33” Shapira became one of the few players to win the tournament twice, having previously triumphed with Tundra Esports in 2022.

For their triumph, Team Liquid not only raised the coveted Aegis of Champions but also took home over US$1.15 million. Gaimin Gladiators, the runners-up, earned just over US$358,000.

Throughout the tournament, Liquid demonstrated exceptional form. They only suffered one loss during the group stage and the seeding decider phases, going on to deliver one of the most dominant performances in the history of The International. Liquid did not lose a single game in the playoff bracket, making their path to the championship flawless.

In the final, Liquid started strong despite Gaimin’s momentum after defeating Tundra Esports in the lower bracket final earlier that day. Though the 3-0 scoreline did not live up to the epic expectations of many fans, Liquid’s decisive victory brought immense satisfaction to their supporters, who had long awaited their team breaking a string of grand final losses.

Coach William Lee delivered an emotional speech after the win, expressing gratitude for the team’s perseverance through difficult years: “I feel like they took a chance on a guy who’s never coached a winning team before. We had so many losses… I’m just so glad that people like Zai, Nisha, and Boxi took a chance on us,” Lee said.

The final, while not as close as some anticipated, offered fans a deeply rewarding conclusion. After years of near-misses in major tournaments, Team Liquid finally broke their grand final curse on the biggest stage of all.

Their commanding victory, combined with their beloved status in the Dota 2 community, led to an outpouring of emotion, with many fans visibly in tears as they witnessed Liquid lift the Aegis.

Liquid’s unprecedented dominance throughout the playoffs only added to the historic nature of their win, which will go down as one of the most satisfying and celebrated moments in Dota 2 history.

The International 2024, also known as TI 13, was the thirteenth edition of Dota 2’s premier esports tournament, held in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Six teams were directly invited, while ten teams qualified through regional tournaments. Two teams each came from Western Europe, China, Southeast Asia, and South America, while Eastern Europe and North America each sent one team.

The base prize pool of the tournament was set at US$1.6 million, with an additional US$963,967 added from 25% of all Compendium sales, bringing the total prize pool to over US$2.5 million.

Continue Reading

International

UN agency for Palestine refugees reports six staff killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza school

An Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza has killed six UNRWA staff members. The Israeli military claimed the school was being used by Hamas for military purposes, while the UNRWA condemned the strike and called for the protection of civilian infrastructure.

Published

2 days ago

on

13 September 2024

By

(Photo: X/UNRWA)

Six employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in central Gaza, the agency has reported.

The al-Jaouni school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which shelters thousands of displaced Palestinians, was struck on Wednesday (12 Sept).

Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency reported a total of 18 deaths in the attack.

Among those killed were the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members who were assisting displaced people.

The UNRWA stated that this was the highest single-incident death toll among its staff since the conflict began and revealed that this was the fifth time the school had been hit since the start of the war.

The school is home to approximately 12,000 displaced individuals, mainly women and children.

Since the beginning of the assault on 7 October, at least 220 UNRWA staff members have been killed in Gaza.

In response to the attack, the UNRWA condemned the strike, stating, “No one is safe in Gaza. No one is spared.”

The agency emphasized the need to protect schools and other civilian infrastructure, declaring, “They are not a target,” and reiterated its call for all parties to refrain from using schools or their surroundings for military purposes.

Israel’s military acknowledged responsibility for the airstrike, claiming it was a “precise strike on terrorists” who were allegedly operating from the school.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that the strike targeted a Hamas command and control center embedded within the school.

The IDF also claimed that steps had been taken to minimize civilian harm, including using precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence gathering.

The IDF accused Hamas of systematically using civilian infrastructure for military purposes, in violation of international law.

They alleged that nine of those killed were members of Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, including three who also worked for the UNRWA.

Israel called on the UNRWA to provide details of the workers killed in the strike, claiming no response had been given.

In response, UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma stated that the Israeli military had not requested a list of the staff who were killed.

She also noted that the names published by the Israeli military had not previously been flagged to the agency by Israeli authorities.

Touma reiterated that UNRWA regularly shares staff lists with host governments, including Israel as the occupying power in Gaza.

Touma further emphasized that UNRWA had consistently called for independent investigations into claims that civilian infrastructure was being used for military purposes.

She said the agency could not independently verify whether the school was being used by Hamas.

UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned the airstrike, calling it a violation of international humanitarian law.

“What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday (12 Sept).

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, rejected Guterres’ remarks, defending Israel’s actions as part of a “just war against terrorism.”

The escalation of violence follows Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October, which left approximately 1,200 people dead and led to the abduction of 251 Israelis who were taken to Gaza as hostages.

Since the conflict began, more than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including nearly 16,500 children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Continue Reading

Trending