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Elon Musk is a distillation of the “self-made-man” and the American dream. He made crazy entrepreneurial and industrial bets which he succeeded, for the most part. Like that of reusable rockets with SpaceX, which we thought was impossible before he proved the opposite. Or, of course, that of the electric car with Tesla and a few years ahead of historic manufacturers, incredulous at first, which it has now left behind.
Elon Musk is confusing. Its industrial challenges look like those of a child launched aloud to impress. Before seeing that the result is there. As for his controversial and straightforward outings, they are regularly likely to be displayed, on social networks, first, and then in the small world of Silicon Valley bosses. Before we pass the towel in the face of the resounding success of his projects. With Elon Musk, it’s permanent instability and we don’t know on which foot to dance.
an american story
Born in South Africa, abused by an authoritarian father it seems, he embarked for Canada when he was barely 18 years old. He lives there before resuming studies that will lead this gifted man to Stanford, California. His life as an entrepreneur begins there, every penny earned is reinvested. The character does not have the lifestyle of the richest man in the world, he does not even have a house of his own, he says. It is difficult to find a comparable model in the history of American capitalism. He would rather be a mixture of Rockefeller, Henry Ford and Steve Jobs. Without forgetting Thomas Edison, who did not invent electricity but knew how to transform it into gold.
La Story is a podcast from Les Echos presented by Michèle Warnet. This episode was recorded in May 2022. Editor-in-chief: Clémence Lemaistre. Guests: Hortense Goulard (correspondent of “Echos” in California) and Julien Dupont-Calbo (head of the Industry department at “Echos”). Directed by: Willy Ganne. Music: Théo Boulenger. Graphic identity: Upian. Photo: Patrick Pleul/Pool via Reuters. Sounds: PMU HUB, Johnny Hallyday “His American Dream”, India Today, AJ +, Les Visiteurs (1993).
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