Culture | The Economist reads

What to read to understand Elon Musk

The world’s richest man was shaped by science fiction

Elon Musk speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Photograph: Getty Images

YOU WOULD have thought Elon Musk was busy enough building brain implants, electric cars, grid-scale batteries, robots, rockets, satellites and tunnelling machines. Apparently not. Mr Musk has also become a close adviser to Donald Trump. On November 12th he took on a new role as the co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, a new body hoping to slash trillions from the federal budget. With that outsize role in mind, here are six books to help understand the history, personality, hopes and opinions of the tech titan.

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