Steve Jobs' Biographer Walter Isaacson Is Writing a Book About Elon Musk

[MacRumors]

Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Steve Jobs, is penning a book about entrepreneur and business magnate Elon Musk, according to Musk.

"If you're curious about Tesla, SpaceX & my general goings on, @WalterIsaacson is writing a biography," tweeted Musk on Thursday.

In subsequent tweets, Musk revealed that Isaacson had been shadowing him "for several days so far," and said he thought all the author's biographies were good, but he "particularly liked" Isaacson's biography of Benjamin Franklin.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1423104512479334402

Isaacson's forthcoming Musk biography will undoubtedly pique the interest of some Apple watchers, since the book is likely to provide additional insight into Apple's rocky relationship with Tesla, and more recently, Musk himself.

Apple and Tesla have been at odds since Apple started working on the ‌Apple Car‌ project and have notoriously poached employees from one another. Back in 2015, Musk famously called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard," and said "If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple."

In December, Musk claimed that he had attempted to speak with Apple about a possible acquisition of Tesla at one point in Tesla's early days, but Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to meet with him.

More recently, Musk criticized Apple's use of cobalt in its products and implied that its business model was a "walled garden" because Apple dictates what software can be installed on the iPhone and requires companies to use its ‌App Store‌.

Just last month, it was reported that Musk once demanded that he be made Apple CEO in a brief discussion of a potential acquisition with Tim Cook. Musk has since personally refuted the claim, and even denied that he and Cook have ever spoken or written to each other.

As for Isaacson, since the publication of his best-selling Jobs biography in 2011, the writer has spoken variously about Apple-related topics with keen insight, likely as a result of his deep dive into the company when Jobs was at the helm.

In 2017, he remarked that Apple was no longer the most innovative company, and singled out Apple's lack of movement in the virtual assistant space as an example of where the company had been left behind by the likes of Google and Amazon.

In 2019, Isaacson also revealed that he had "softened" parts of Jobs' biography, particularly criticisms Jobs had made about Tim Cook for not being a "product person."

Isaacson's biography of Jobs went on to be the basis for Aaron Sorkin's screenplay of the Danny Boyle-directed film "Steve Jobs." The film was well received by critics, earning four Golden Globe Award nominations and two Academy Award nominations.

Article Link: Steve Jobs' Biographer Walter Isaacson Is Writing a Book About Elon Musk

 

[dapa0s]

Steve Jobs is so much better and cooler than the nerd Musk. I bet the wannabe Musk offered Isaacson a ton of money, so that the same guy that wrote Job‘s biography could write his. Pretty sad.

edit: for all the people downvoting

 

[Mac4Mat]

I hope it is more accurate than the Steve Jobs book, where Steve allowed the author 40 interviews, but insisted he did not even read the draft or the book before publication let alone exert any editorial changes, and where in my opinion, it was a mistake where he was then portrayed unlike the Steve Jobs I had the pleasure of communicating with.

I wonder if Elon Musk will allow unfettered access and honesty amongst the contributors, which is what Steve insisted on and further I wonder if Elon will forego the right to have any editorial control or read the finished book prior to publication...I doubt it.

 

[Nimrad]

Both Steve Jobs and Elon Musk definitely had different personalities than the usual CEOs out there. The other common factor: they both seem to attract love him or hate him attitudes. Gonna be an interesting read.

 

[lodev]

The best critique of the Jobs biography for me came from John Siracusa in the Hypercritical podcast: Walter Isaacson was the wrong guy for the job.

 

[SD449]

I hope it is more accurate than the Steve Jobs book, where Steve allowed the author 40 interviews, but insisted he did not even read the draft or the book before publication let alone exert any editorial changes, and where in my opinion, it was a mistake where he was then portrayed unlike the Steve Jobs I had the pleasure of communicating with.

I wonder if Elon Musk will allow unfettered access and honesty amongst the contributors, which is what Steve insisted on and further I wonder if Elon will forego the right to have any editorial control or read the finished book prior to publication...I doubt it.

I thought the way Steve let Walter write what he felt without editing or trying to fit a narrative was a bold decision and did allow a seemingly honest representation. I just found it a hard read and listen.

I wish it was more similar to DisneyWar by James B. Stewart, that was an awesome book on Eisner and also had no editorial which probably wouldn’t have happened if Zenia Mucha was hired sooner.

Either way I cannot see Elon providing the same and as others have said, has probably picked the author based on vanity as recent stories have suggest he wants to be like Steve with his Tesla aquasistion and demanding CEO being similar to the NeXT deal.

 

[Reason077]

Steve Jobs is so much better and cooler than the nerd Musk.

Indeed. Hundreds of years from now, the history books will recall Musk’s name alongside nerds like Henry Ford and Sergei Korolev.

But the genius of Steve Jobs will be with the likes of Michelangelo, Picasso, and Da Vinci.

 

[swm]

i hope there will be an original version, unaltered by Rocket Jesus.
the guy is a bit obsessed with re-editing his own history wherever possible.

 

[PC_tech]

based on vanity as recent stories have suggest he wants to be like Steve with his Tesla aquasistion and demanding CEO being similar to the NeXT deal.

Both Cook and Musk have said they never talked to each other, why do you guys keep insisting this is true?

 

[PC_tech]

But the genius of Steve Jobs will be alongside names like Michelangelo, Picasso, and Da Vinci.

No, he won’t 🙄

 

[Mrjetsondc]

The Jobs book was a work of art. I adore biographies. Isaacson is gonna kill it with this one- I hope he exposes Musk for the rich, privileged, blood-diamond mining, charlatan he can be at times.

 

[Smici]

Chapter 3
How to grow back your hair.

 

[George Dawes]

Another one for the bargain bin , Steve jobs he ain’t

 

[progx]

I wonder if Elon Musk will allow unfettered access and honesty amongst the contributors, which is what Steve insisted on and further I wonder if Elon will forego the right to have any editorial control or read the finished book prior to publication...I doubt it.

Highly unlikely. Musk and Jobs are not the same. I suspect Musk will be high as a kite, make stuff up and say he was born to be the emperor of the world. He's just as bad as Bezos.

 

[progx]

Both Cook and Musk have said they never talked to each other, why do you guys keep insisting this is true?

I guess people want to dream that Cook had a Jobs moment and gave Musk the finger. If he did say it, I applaud Cook for telling Musk what we've all been wanting to say to him for a few years now.

 

[iapplelove]

Like him or not, he sure is more interesting than Tim Cook.

 

[jamcgahey]

I really enjoyed the Steve Jobs one. Wouldn't it have made more sense if this was something that was worked on and released posthumous like Jobs? Is that the goal? I know the Jobs book was a product of on and off conversations over many years. I just never understood biographies being released while the person is alive especially given that Musk is so young and could still do so much more.

 

[Bug-Creator]

I surely don't care about books like these and even less if they were just ghostwritten autobiographies (as is suggested by allowing the topic of the book to make editorial changes).

Other than that this thread is already filled with fanboys circle###### over their respective idols. Or maybe my irony sensors need some recalibrating.....

 

[dapa0s]

Both Cook and Musk have said they never talked to each other, why do you guys keep insisting this is true?

Because SCANDAL!!!

The news will really write anything to get clicks.

 

[Glideslope]

Wow, talk about an unhealthy obsession with Apple. Isaacson now paid a too much to refuse amount to do Elon. Simply because he wrote about Steve.

Elon might be a genius with Aspergers, but he’s got far larger needs than that. Hopefully Isaacson will focus on the Global Cobalt savings Elon loves to tout while sending his Kerosene fueled boosters into orbit as opposed to Blue Origins far cleaner burning Methane/Oxygen boosters.

What an ego.

 

[Busdrver]

Why would Isaacson write the book now? Musk is a relatively young man…There’s going to be a lot more to be written about him in 20 or 30 years.

Berger’s book “Liftoff” almost fits the bill for now, IMO.

 

[madsci954]

I will only buy a copy if it’s called “Elon Musk: The Adventures of Space Noah”

 

[DanTSX]

Another one for the bargain bin , Steve jobs he ain’t

He’s bigger. Jobs didn’t bring us a marketable EV. He was happy to puts around in ICE benzes, and make disposable phones.

Jobs didn’t want to colonize Mars. He was happy visiting there on LSD.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Walter is a good writer but, I won’t be reading about Elon.

 

[CornBeef4]

I'm not even remotely an Apple fanboy but Steve Jobs is a much much better character than this fraudster Musk. They're not even comparable