"Elon Musk' is written by star biographer Walter Isaacson
Elon Musk's biographer has provided insights into the complex dynamic between the billionaire and his father, Errol Musk. In the bestselling biography, "Elon Musk," published in September, Walter Isaacson portrayed the driven entrepreneur as someone haunted by childhood demons, obsessed with bringing human life to Mars and who demands that staff be "hardcore."
While Mr Musk's early life was widely known, Mr Isaacson emphasised the role of Mr Musk's abusive and manipulative father, Errol.
In a recent appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast with host Steven Bartlett, Mr Isaacson discussed Elon Musk's childhood, revealing an incident that significantly impacted Mr Musk's perception and affected his relationship with his father.
According to Isaacson, the South Africa-born Elon Musk was a "scrawny kid on the autism spectrum," who faced frequent bullying, leaving a lasting imprint on his mind.
"He had no social input-output skills. He had no friends and he was beaten up quite often,"
Mr Isaacson said during the podcast. "But the scars from that were minor compared to what happened when he went back home after being beaten up once. He was in the hospital for four days."
Upon his return home from the hospital, Musk faced a harsh reprimand from his father, Errol Musk, for being assaulted by bullies. Errol Musk, lacking empathy, deemed his son a "loser" and sided with the bully.
"His father made him stand in front of him for two hours, while the father tells him he's a loser, that it was his fault," revealed Mr Isaacson.
As disclosed by Elon Musk's biographer on the subsequent podcast, Elon Musk is currently not in contact with his father.
'Elon Musk' is written by star biographer Walter Isaacson, a former editor-in-chief of Time magazine who is best known for his best-selling portrayal of Apple founder Steve Jobs as well as his looks into the lives of Albert Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci.