Elon Musk's biographer talks about billionaire's 'demon mode,' 'dark streak' in upcoming book

In a recent interview, on Twitter Spaces, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s biographer, Walter Isaacson spoke about how the billionaire sometimes goes into “demon mode” which makes him highly productive and a tough leader but also “dark”. This comes as the biographer spoke about Musk’s complex life and the upcoming biography about the billionaire on Thursday.

Musk’s ‘demon mode’

During the interview, Isaacson said that one of the difficulties while dealing with smart and innovative people is that they have quite a “dark streak”. Notably, he has previously written biographies on several innovators, like Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Similarly, in Musk’s case, the biographer said that his so-called dark streak comes from a very brutal, violent childhood. “A childhood in which he had very strong psychological difficulties with his father,” said Isaacson.

Notably, the term “demon mode” is said to have been coined by Grimes, Musk’s former girlfriend, who told the biographer how it could be “unpleasant” being around the Twitter CEO when he is in that mode but “gets shit done.”

Speaking broadly about the dark streak, the biographer said that many brilliant and successful people, including Musk and Jobs, are not burdened by empathy which allows them to accomplish a larger mission and can make them much tougher leaders.

In the Tesla CEOcase, Isaacson said that he has a “maniacal sense of urgency” which would often scare some of his workers. “He’d go dark and I’d know that he was just going to rip that person apart,” said Isaacson about Musk, when someone would not match his sense of urgency. This became common when Musk had just taken over Twitter, said the biographer.

Isaacson, who followed Musk’s day-to-day life for nearly two years, said that these moments of rage would make him “uncomfortable” and it was hard to watch. “He is just brutal,” said the biographer, as per Insider.

He added, “The thing that I noticed is that once he finishes doing it – and it was never physical and it was almost done in a flat monotone – but he would just really attack people and then a few days later if they absorbed the lesson, he’d forget about it.”

Tesla CEO’s addiction to risk

One of the things that surprised Isaacson, he said, was Musk’s childhood and his relationship with his father Errol Musk. According to the biographer, the Tesla CEO’s father shaped his personality and affected his understanding of risk.

Additionally, the biographer has also attributed Musk’s risk-taking behaviour and “dark streak” to his relationship with his father as well as the bullying he endured in his youth.

Musk is almost addicted to risk, said Isaacson. He added, “It’s an important thing because America has lost the ability to take risks and do great manufacturing, and there’s a dark quality to his desire to take risks”.

The upcoming book

Isaacson said that his book, which is due to release in September, is aimed to show the complexity of Musk and the balance between his “dark streak” and his groundbreaking work with Tesla and SpaceX.

During the interview, the biographer also said that Musk is like someone who doesn’t care about anything aside from getting something done, adding that “there are light strands and brilliant strands with Musk, but also dark strands.”

“If you pluck out that strand, you lose the whole claw and that’s what this biography is about,” said Isaacson, as per media reports.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.