In 'The Contrarian,' Max Chafkin provides a meticulous biography of Peter Thiel, one of Silicon Valley's most influential and controversial figures. The book explores Thiel's singular life and worldview, from his conservative roots at Stanford to his founding of PayPal and Palantir, and his early investments in Facebook and SpaceX. Chafkin also delves into Thiel's political activities, including his support for Donald Trump and his role in the lawsuit that destroyed the blog Gawker. The biography is both a portrait of Thiel and an examination of the broader tech industry, highlighting its explosive growth, power, and the controversies surrounding it.
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Elon Musk said he’s committed to still leading Tesla Inc. five years from now and expects to pare back his political spending, assuaging some investors’ concerns about the future of his most valuable company.
The billionaire offered new details about his plans in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg News that also touched on his compensation, Tesla’s sliding sales and a possible spinoff of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite business. Musk repeated his criticisms of a familiar cast of characters, from Bill Gates to the Delaware judge who’s twice ruled against his massive Tesla pay package.
Musk, whose $375.5 billion fortune leads the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, reiterated that he wants to own more shares of Tesla for reasons of authority, rather than wealth.
“It’s not a money thing,” he said during a remote appearance Tuesday at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. “It’s a reasonable control thing, over the future of the company.”
Musk has been chief executive officer of Tesla since 2008, one of the longest active stints atop the world’s largest automakers. His level of engagement with the company has come under greater scrutiny as the carmaker has followed up its first annual sales drop in over a decade with steeper declines early this year.
Musk, 53, downplayed the extent of Tesla’s challenges, saying that “it’s already turned around.” When pressed about this — the carmaker’s vehicle sales continued to plunge across Europe’s biggest electric vehicle markets in April — the CEO said that the region is the company’s weakest, but that it’s strong elsewhere.
Today's show features:
Bloomberg News Senior Reporter Max Chafkin on Elon Musk’s Qatar Economic Forum interview
Siyu Huang, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Factorial Energy
Bloomberg News National Security Team Leader Nick Wadhams
Bloomberg News Senior Editor, Equities Americas Eric Weiner
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