If it’s true that money cannot buy happiness, one confirming data point was Elon’s mood when he became the person with the most of it.
He was not happy in the fall of 2021.
When he flew to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico for a birthday party Kimbal had organized for his wife Christiana in October, where Grimes performed as DJ, he shut himself in his room and played Polytopia much of the time.
“We were underneath this art piece with interactive lights dancing to beautiful music from Grimes,” Christiana says.
“I thought about how our good fortune was thanks to Elon, but he just couldn’t let himself enjoy the moment.”
As often happened, his mood swings and depression were manifest as stomach pains.
He was throwing up and had intense heartburn. “Any great docs you’d recommend?” he texted when he cut short his visit to Cabo. “They don’t need to be famous or fancy offices.” I asked if he was all right. “I’m not super OK, tbh,” he responded. “I’ve been burning the candle at both ends with a flamethrower for a very long time. It has taken its toll. I was very ill this weekend.”
A few weeks later, he opened up more. We spoke for more than two hours, much of it about the mental and physical scars he still had in 2021:
From 2007 onwards, until maybe last year, it’s been nonstop pain. There’s a gun to your head, make Tesla work, pull a rabbit out of your hat, then pull another rabbit out of the hat. A stream of rabbits flying through the air. If the next rabbit does not come out, you’re dead. It takes a toll. You can’t be in a constant fight for survival, always in adrenaline mode, and not have it hurt you. But there’s something else I’ve found this year. It’s that fighting to survive keeps you going for quite a while. When you are no longer in survive-or-die mode, it’s not that easy to get motivated every day.
This was an essential insight that Musk had about himself. When things were most dire, he got energized. It was the siege mentality from his South African childhood. But when he was not in survival-or-die mode, he felt unsettled. What should have been the good times were unnerving for him. It prompted him to launch surges, stir up dramas, throw himself into battles he could have bypassed, and bite off new endeavors.
That Thanksgiving, his mother and sister flew to Austin to celebrate with him, his four older sons, X, and Grimes. Two of his cousins and his two half-sisters from his father’s second marriage were also there.
“We needed to be with him because he gets lonely,” Maye says. “He loves to have family around and we have to do that for him, you know, because he’s under so much stress.”
Source: Walter Isaacson's 'Elon Musk' (2023), chapter 67
🚨 ELON MUSK EXIGE DES ÉLECTIONS SÉCURISÉES :
« À mon avis, nous devrions avoir uniquement des bulletins papier. Ce devrait être un vote en personne, avec pièce d’identité, point final. »
ENCORE une position de bon sens que beaucoup refusent d’entendre !
Les systèmes électroniques et le vote par correspondance ouvrent la porte aux fraudes. Il est temps de revenir aux bases : papier, présence physique, vérification d’identité.
ASSEZ des doutes sur l’intégrité de nos élections !
La France et l’Europe doivent adopter les mêmes standards pour garantir des votes honnêtes et transparents.
Que pensez-vous de cette position d’Elon Musk ?
A. Musk a raison : bulletins papier + ID en personne pour des élections fiables
B. Il est temps de sécuriser nos scrutins comme le propose Musk
C. Les systèmes actuels sont sûrs, Musk dramatise pour diviser
D. Le vote par correspondance est un droit, il ne faut pas le supprimer
🇫🇷 Soutenez-nous en nous suivant sur 𝕏 🌐 Notre Telegram en cas de censure : https://t.co/7BI2uMGmUb 🇫🇷
Bill Gates visited Elon Musk at the Tesla Giga Texas factory and told him straight up: "It's impossible to have a long-range semi-truck. It doesn't work" Elon replied: "We literally have them. Drive one yourself. Pepsi is using them RIGHT NOW" Gates just kept saying: "No, it doesn't work"
Today, Tesla Semis are hauling cargo 425+ miles for one of the biggest companies on Earth
Imagine being this confidently wrong, refusing to accept reality, and somehow the media still sells him as a "climate expert"! @Tesla@elonmusk
Be honest... ❤️
If you had to choose only one for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A. Unlimited money 💰
B. One person who truly loves you forever ❤️
I'm curious... what's your choice and why? 🥰👇