Elon Musk recently overtook Warren Buffett in wealth ranking briefly after the surge of Tesla stock temporarily to a high price of $1794.99 a share. Elon is the man that founded the companies PayPal, Solar City, Tesla, The Boring Company, and SpaceX.
He is with no doubt one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs and CEOs of our generation.
Musk has been an avid reader since he was young. As a boy he read for about ten hours each day, reading through the library and the Encyclopedia Britannica, and also went through a six-month BASIC computer coding course in 72 hours. According to his brother, Elon Musk read approximately two books a day, growing up.
What books would Elon Musk recommended reading? Here is a list of books that Musk has recommended in his interviews through the years over a vast array of subjects from entertainment, business, and engineering.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Musk recommends this one to help young people with their search for meaning in life.
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. “He was an entrepreneur. He started from nothing. He was just a runaway kid.” Elon said during an interview.
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. “Peter Thiel has built multiple breakthrough companies, and (this book) shows how.” – Elon Musk
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Elon tweeted: “Worth reading Superintelligence by Bostrom. We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.”
Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness. Musk said this book was a “Cautionary tale.”
“Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down is a good book on structural design”. Musk said.
Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants. For aspiring rocket scientists.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, he related to the heroes in this book that saw it as a duty to save the world.
Stranger in a Strange Land, is one he likes but says it goes off the rails at the end.
The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, is probably one of the all-time best science fiction books.
“Focus on signal over noise. Don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t actually make things better.” – Elon Musk
These books give interesting insights to the authors and ideas that influenced him in his life.
