For legendary biographer Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk was the next logical topic. The gifted biographer previously wrote a definitive book on Steve Jobs, saying the Apple co-founder "led us into the era of the personal digital revolution."
According to Isaacson, the next big revolution was "the life sciences, the ability to edit our genes" - which led him to the pioneering biochemist Jennifer Doudna. However, a few years ago, he looked around and wondered what the next innovation would be. "To me, there are a few themes: sustainable energy, artificial intelligence, and space travel. Musk is all three here."
Recently, Musk lashed out at advertisers who boycotted X over anti-Semitic comments. Isaacson, the author of "The Biography of Elon Musk", recently said when attending an event, "Musk is really a genius in terms of material properties and engineering." But he is "not" in terms of "human emotions." Isaacson attributes this in part to the billionaire's brutal upbringing and the fact that Musk "is autistic." Musk publicly disclosed for the first time that he has Asperger's syndrome when he participated in "Saturday Night Live" in 2021.
The former Time editor and former CNN chairman and CEO did not discuss Musk's recent controversies at Monday night's event. But in sharing some of the insights he gained while writing the biography, he offered some explanations for this behavior. Taking Ukraine as an example, one of the biggest revelations in Isaacson's book is that, according to a passage in the biography, Musk "secretly ordered his engineers to shut down the company's Starlink satellite communications network near the coast of Crimea last year to disrupt Ukraine's sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet." The quote, from an excerpt released days ahead of the Elon Musk Biography in September, caused an uproar and led Musk to explain that "Starlink was not activated in the area and SpaceX did not shut down anything." Isaacson later "clarified" the matter on X, telling New York Magazine that he had "misunderstood" Musk. "I thought he made this decision. In fact, he was simply complying with a policy he had previously implemented," Isaacson wrote to the magazine.
While none of this was discussed at the event, Isaacson said: "He (Musk) loves being a superhero on the world stage. I mean, he's Captain Underpants." George and Harold used hypnosis to turn the annoying principal into a superman wearing underwear, "Captain Underpants". This underwear superman is very friendly to children and can always help them get out of all kinds of troubles, but once he regains consciousness, he will forget what he has done as "Captain Underpants").