The man behind the chairman's seat
Elon Musk
From a Pretoria childhood to the world's most-watched executive: the founders' fortune he never founded, the two companies he almost lost in the same year, and the decisions that keep dividing the people who drive his cars.
Chapter 1
The Boy Who Read Encyclopedias
Before the rockets and the recalls, there was a kid in Pretoria who chose his father's house because it had a bigger library.
Chapter 2
Fired on His Honeymoon
His first two companies made him rich. Both of them also fired him.
Chapter 3
The Worst Year, Twice
In 2008, Musk's rocket company and his car company were both weeks from death -- at the same time, for the same reason: his money had run out.
Chapter 4
Production Hell
He called it production hell himself. Then he tweeted his way into a fraud investigation trying to make it stop.
Chapter 5
To Mars and Beyond
Whatever else you think of him, this part is not spin: SpaceX rewrote what a rocket is allowed to cost.
Chapter 6
Taking Over Twitter
He said he wanted to save free speech. He ended up renaming the company after the bank that fired him.
Chapter 7
Musk and Washington
The man who once endorsed Obama twice ended up running a government department -- for about four months.