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A new book is out about Elon Musk. “Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk" is a detailed account of Musk's life and career, authored by Washington Post technology journalist, Faiz Siddiqui, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate. Hubris Maximus means excess self-confidence, often leading to failure. Nebraska Public Media’s Dale Johnson asked Siddiqui how Musk fits into that definition.
Faiz Siddiqui: Elon Musk makes these gigantic bets with his businesses. If you look at what SpaceX has been able to do in terms of its rocket propulsion and its technology, if you look at what Tesla has bet on with self driving, if you look at his purchase of Twitter for $44 billion before the valuation was significantly reduced by some of the moves he made in that first year, he's betting on a form of self-driving technology at Tesla that rivals, especially rival automakers, have not embraced. If it works out, it could be a major coup for the company. If it doesn't, it could drag the company down. This is true of so many of Musk's approaches to his business, but also now to what he's done with government. If you look at the way that DOGE operated, the Department of Government Efficiency, it swept into all of these federal agencies, and there was tremendous blowback, but it just is a “go big or go home” approach that ruffles feathers at times, but you know, that has also resulted in the heights of business success for musk and other times, you know, dragged him and his companies down.
Dale Johnson: Musk aligning himself With President Trump. Is that a mistake, or is that a working relationship?
Siddiqui: So the one thing that's changed is Tesla investors' appetite for this political alliance. I think there was a time six months ago where they saw it as a net positive. And you have to understand, I always say, you know, Tesla's the economic engine for musk. It's the plurality that sometimes it's been, you know, more than that for his net worth. And so if that's not there, a lot of the other pieces of Musk's empire start to come into question. And so, you know, obviously, at times, it's been a tremendous monetary benefit to Musk. I wrote after the election about how it had caused his net worth to soar, this political alliance. Well, now he's in a place where I saw a key Tesla investor yesterday was calling for him to step aside from DOGE. So in that context, I imagine that person, or people like him, might see this as untenable.
Johnson: There's a line in your author's notes. The last line says, “The best way to understand what Musk is going to do next is to look at how he's wielded his power all along.” You have followed Musk's activities for years as a journalist. So what do you see him doing next?
Siddiqui: Oh, that's a good question. So one thing I've learned over that time is not just, to stay away from that prediction. I remember when at the beginning of 2022 trying to think of like, what are the themes going to be this year? You know, what are, what are the stories that we really think Musk is going to be digging in on. And, you know, I remember, you know, Cybertruck delivery at Tesla was, was a big, you know, area of focus. Just Tesla's ability to continue to generate hype for its vehicles, and then all of a sudden, this pivot to social media, it kind of comes out of nowhere. You start to see evidence that Musk is becoming interested in Twitter. But I don't think, and you know anybody who tells you, in January of 2022, that they were predicting Musk was going buy Twitter, I mean, it's just, it's just hard to see that. So I try to stay away from, you know the exact prediction on where he goes next. But you know, if he has to step away from government and return his attention to his businesses, you have to look at what the other businesses are. And the upstart here is xAI. It's an artificial intelligence startup that's looking to compete with open AI and then with the other big wigs, the Googles, the Microsofts of the world. And so, you know, look to those AI bets, look to neural link, the brain chip implant startup, and look for them to make big swings in those directions.
Johnson: Should the public be concerned about the future actions of Elon Musk?
Siddiqui: I think there is a sort of societal reckoning with the power of people and people in Musk's position. Now, Musk has shown that he can take a small amount of his fortune and direct it into elections and dramatically influence the direction of the country. So on one hand, I mean, that has been just a tangible demonstration of the power of this class of tech elite. As far as Musk himself, I mean, sure he has his hands in so many different areas of American and global life. So somebody in that position, if they put a foot wrong, can do a tremendous amount of damage. You know, there's also a tremendous amount of promise. That's why he has been inspiring to so many people over the years. But this book tries to put into context what has motivated those bets, and at times, the fallout of some of his biggest gambles.
Johnson: Faiz Siddiqui joining me. His book is Hubris Maximus, the shattering of Elon Musk, it drops today. It's in all your favorite bookstores. Faiz, of course, a University of Nebraska graduate. So we wish him the best on his new book. Faiz Siddiqui joining me on Nebraska Public Media. I'm Dale Johnson.