Elon Musk Biographer on How the Tesla CEO Acts Behind Closed Doors | WSJ

This interviewer keeps asking negative questions of Musk, and yet Isaacson keeps answering as neutral as possible while also complimenting Musk (and Jobs too) and giving credit where credit is due to them. Makes me appreciate Isaacson much more now, I definitely support his positive judgement of Musk after spending so much time so close to him.

Just watched this after watching the same interview on Lex Fridman’s podcast. There’s a stark difference in the interviewing styles. Some observations: 1. Lex gives it to us uncut. This seems as though there are segments that have been cut. 2. Lex’s approach seems non-judgmental and positive. WSJ’s seems negative/biased/agenda driven. 3. Lex makes it personal by giving anecdotes from his own life and asks deep and interesting questions about Walter’s life. WSJ strips the humanity out of the narrative by rapid firing through questions on Elon’s morality and sanity without asking questions about his achievements and the impact his companies have had/ will have on society. Hats off to Lex. I really appreciate his approach. Can highly recommend him to anyone who hasn’t heard of him!

wsj gets in demon mode whenever they hear the name elon musk

I'm half way through the interview and I've heard only questions around the personality, demon mode and potential bad sides of someone that is making our history. I find this annoying and a waste of time

“Demon mode” = clinical psychotic episode

What's the name of the interviewer? He got dribbled by Isaacson. The interviewer was trying to dig up dirt on Musk and negativity, but Isaacson never took the bait. Good one Walter Isaacson

Brutality honest. Enjoyed this book review.

I read Walter Isaacson’s biography on Einstein and Ben Franklin, and found him to be one of the greatest biographers.

Walter is an outstanding interviewer and biographer. He is intelligent, honest and empathetic. Well done, Walter!😊

I found the focus of this interview to be excessively negative. Every person has demons. Fewer people have the virtues of Elon Musk.

First class interview: balanced, respectful and thoughtful.

Walter Isaacson is an incredible author and speaker. Amazing interview I’m buying this book asap

Not "demon" but deeply traumatized as a child. This is so sad. I've been working many years in the IT industry and I can tell you, I would never ever work for such people again

Good interview! Well prepared with good questions

I am not sure Elon Musk cares about what people think of him. I sense his sincerity in all his projects.

I read most of previous Walter Isaacson books (Franklin, Jobs, DaVinci, Einstein and Innovators) and they are brilliant. Now 1/3 read from this one and so far excellent book again. This guy has a skill to make topics like the history of computer science a interesting story you just can't stop reading.

Wow, what a fantastic interview. I was on the fence about buying this book prior to seeing this interview. Now, is a musk-buy!

Its ok to be wrong, as long as you are not confident and wrong" - Elon Musk, giving one of his rules of thumb

Really appreciate WSJ including the dad's perspective in the end there.

The greatest lesson that I was able to take away from his story is that your failures will be your greatest attribute and to NEVER give up. Elon’s story is truly inspiring.