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non_radical_centrist  8mo ago (astralcodexten.com)   2077 thread views

Book Review: Elon Musk[Scott Alexander]

astralcodexten.com

Scott Alexander’s review of a 2015 biography of Elon Musk. Elon Musk, to me, is one of the world’s most confusing people. He’s simultaneously both one of the smartest people in the world, creating billions of dollars of value in companies like Tesla and SpaceX, and one of the dumbest, in burning billions on Twitter. Scott’s review I think is a good explanation of what’s up with Musk.

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I don't think Twitter was a mistake. Converting money into influence is very expensive. His timing was awful, and he probably could have gotten a better deal if he'd waited a few months, but I expect (at least when you consider the influence gained) that that purchase will turn out profitable in the end.

I agree that the Twitter purchase will probably work out. He's clearly a lot more ambitious about what he wants to do with it than the old owners were, and while I'm not game to predict that it's going to become a highly successful payment platform or whatever, he'll keep trying things and some of them will work.

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