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Answers by Ashlee Vance, Bestselling author, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX & the Quest for a Fantastic Future, on Quora.
A: Well, I'm not sure it's easy to pinpoint one thing that motivates Musk.
As I argue in the book, I'm convinced that Musk is what psychologists would consider to be a "profoundly gifted" person. This sounds like a fluffy, abstract term, but it's actually quite concrete in the scientific literature. The quick explanation is that Musk was a child with a very, very high IQ who also exhibited certain grandiose traits. Profoundly Gifted children often take troubles in the world quite seriously, dwell on them to no end and want to fix them. Sadly, many of these children are often overcome by the depth of their emotions and end up sort of paralyzed and unable to tap into their skills. Musk seems to have gone quite the other direction and become more and more capable over time and more and more ambitious.
Is this existential depression from his childhood? Yes, I believe so to an extent.
Musk read a ton of science fiction as a child and took the ideas that mankind should try and save the world and spread out through the universe very seriously. He was bullied at school and unhappy at home, which made him turn inward and think of ways to improve his life and the lot of others.
I think he deeply wants to help out mankind, while also proving that he is a special person who is deserving of love and adulation. (Caution: These views were expressed by a journalist with a degree in philosophy and a giant armchair).
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A: I go into his schedule in pretty gory detail in the book, but here are the basics: Elon divides his time pretty much evenly these days between SpaceX and Tesla. He starts out in LA at the beginning of the week dealing with SpaceX, then heads to Silicon Valley mid-week for Tesla and then back to deal with SpaceX on Thursday evening and Friday. In truth, though, Friday is a mixed day because the Tesla Design Studio is in LA, and Elon meets with the design team each week for a few hours.
Elon is the Chairman of SolarCity and attends board meetings and helps out with some announcements, but he does not deal with day-to-day operations there by any means.
The absolute truth is that Elon works seven days a week almost every week and goes wherever he feels most needed. If Tesla has a major issue, for example, it's very common for him to head back North for the weekend and work Saturday and Sunday at Tesla. He also communicates at all hours of the day. Based on my dealings with him, he seems to be offline from about midnight to 4 am but is otherwise answering questions the rest of the time.
A number of people have written to me trying to find out what secret apps he uses to manage his time. I don't have anything very satisfying to report there. I know that he keeps meticulous track of how much time he spends in meetings, flying, etc. and analyzes spreadsheets on this data at the end of each year.
I give the dude credit for being so relentless with his work ethic. From Zip2 and PayPal through to today, there's the common thread of Elon out working everyone. I don't know how he keeps it up and am not sure it's good for him.
Pity the CEOs at rival automotive and aerospace companies because I don't think they fully grasp what they're up against.
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A: I'll give you two: humor and aggression.
In most of Elon's public interviews, he can come off as quite serious and sometimes awkward when dishing out jokes. If you have him one on one, though, and he's warmed up, he can be funny to the point of hilarious. He loves to laugh and has a quick wit.
As for the aggression, I'm not sure the public really gets to see the full ferocity of Elon's spirit. The man is driven to the point of being possessed. He can sometimes seem like a quirky, mad scientist type, but make no mistake, he's an incredibly hardline businessman.