Part 5/12:
A recurring theme in the biography is the duality in Musk’s personality. Isaacson describes Musk as a brilliant engineer with an exceptional ability to question, rebel, and take risks—traits that fuel innovation but are also intertwined with darker traits stemming from a brutal childhood:
“He has a dark streak, a demon mode, which he can switch into when under pressure. He’s self-aware enough to know it, and he’s driven by an almost addictive need for risk.”