The Genius Who Crashed the Plane: Elon Musk’s Wild Ride at Twitter
You think you know the story: Elon Musk, the visionary entrepreneur, crumbles under the weight of his ego. He swoops in to save Twitter, slashes jobs, tanking the company. And yet, we’re left wondering: how could a genius be so, well, stupid?
But is it that simple? New books on Musk’s Twitter takeover – Character Limit, Extremely Hardcore, and Battle for the Bird – offer more than just a recap of the drama. They’re a wild-eyed ride into the depths of Musk’s psyche, where fact meets fiction, and logic goes out the window.
The books detail the chaos that erupted as Musk’s Twitter team crumbled under his ambition. Scenes of former friends and hangers-on, like Musk’s own son, making demands of employees, read like a bad Tarantino flick. Even the books’ publishers, Morgan Stanley, were brought to their knees, said a source.
But what’s most flabbergasting is how Musk could ever agree to buy Twitter in the first place. A $44-billion deal that was always a sinking ship, with unsavvy investors and dodgy partners. It’s like watching a genius crash a plane, destroying all on board.
And yet, as we gnash our teeth at Musk’s ineptitude, we can’t help but wonder: is he really as thick-headed as he seems? The books insist that, despite his many flaws, Musk remains a genius, rooted in the physical world, driven by an insatiable quest for progress. Maybe.
Walter Isaacson’s new book, Elon Musk, offers a unique glimpse into that world, exposing Musk’s relentless focus and "strength of will." His previous book, too, explored the "embodied genius" of Musk’s manufacturing wizardry. It’s a quality akin to that of great athletes, who, when in the zone, see nothing but the game.
In the end, the mystery of Elon Musk lies in the silence that precedes a free throw, as David Foster Wallace once wrote. Is he a mystic, an idiot, or both? One thing’s for sure: when he bought Twitter, he was thinking nothing at all. Perhaps the primary reason his free throw went awry was a Tolstoyan irony: a genius of the physical world, buying a company built for words.
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