Elon Musk, as a yet-unproven entrepreneur in his mid-20s, declared himself the “reincarnation” of ancient Greek conqueror Alexander the Great, a new book on the billionaire has revealed.
Musk, now 53, made the comment around 30 years ago to a partner at one of the firms that bankrolled his first start-up, Zip2, which aimed to bring the Yellow Pages online, Washington Post reporter Faiz Siddiqui writes in Hubris Maximus, published Tuesday.
Derek Proudian, then at Mohr Davidow Ventures, recalled grabbing lunch with the young Musk to discuss how to make the company viable on a small scale.
Musk, however, insisted that he think bigger: Zip2 was “going to be the biggest company ever,” Proudian recalled him saying.
When Proudian tried to change the subject, Musk doubled down.
“No—you don’t understand,” he said. “I’m the reincarnation of the spirit of Alexander the Great.”
Incredulous, Proudian pushed back that he might not reach that level of success. Musk wasn’t willing to hear it.
“I’ve got the samurai spirit,” he said. “I’d rather commit seppuku than fail.”
In the ’90s, Proudian brushed off Musk’s words, saying that he didn’t “take it that seriously when he was a twenty-three-year-old entrepreneur who didn’t have two nickels to rub together.”
But with Musk now a multibillionaire who holds President Donald Trump’s ear (while still operating with the haughtiness of a young man who compared himself to one of history’s great conquerors), Proudian said he’s worried.
“I am really concerned because I know how smart this guy is and I know how much money he has and I know how ruthless he is, and it’s playing out in front of my own eyes,” he said.
Musk did not immediately return a Daily Beast request for comment, sent to his lawyer, on the book’s claims.
Siddiqui’s book charts the rise of the world’s richest man—from his relentless push to outdo competitors at Tesla to his chaotic takeover of Twitter—arriving at Musk’s current venture: making huge cuts to the federal government as the unelected chief of the Department of Government Efficiency.
True to its title, the book is ripe with fresh insider accounts of the “technoking”’s arrogance.
Ross Gerber, a former Tesla investor and one of the company’s biggest cheerleaders, told Siddiqui that Musk cannot stand being told what to do—even by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“He just basically has a complete disdain for any authority period,” said Gerber, whose relationship with Musk eventually soured. “I have a completely different opinion about the hubris of thumbing your nose at the people that could really hurt you.”
A former Tesla software engineer, Nathan Murthy, recounted that Musk’s disregard for Covid health concerns and racial justice amid the George Floyd protests convinced him of his boss’s callousness.
“We saw with definitive proof his true colors,” Murthy said. “I don’t know if he doesn’t want to empathize or if he feels he’s just too busy to empathize.”
When Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, Siddiqui writes that he had little time for the opinions of the company’s employees, who were often wary of him.
When he did call up executives to meet with him in his makeshift 10th-floor office, the scene was often bizarre.
One high-level exec recalled waiting for 90 minutes outside of Musk’s office. When he was finally allowed to enter, Musk was watching a YouTube video on his phone. There ensued an awkward 10 minutes of silence during which the executive waited for Musk to acknowledge his presence.
He finally did, exchanging pleasantries and offering a brief update. Then he abruptly said “thank you,” shook the exec’s hand, and returned to YouTube.
Siddiqui, who has long covered Musk’s antics at Tesla and Twitter for the Post, also offered a look into his personal experience with the billionaire.
Reached for comment on a story by Siddiqui, Musk would respond with slight variations of the same quip: “Give my regards to your puppetmaster,” ostensibly referring to the Post’s owner, fellow multibillionaire founder Jeff Bezos.
The book also sheds light on the dynamic between Musk and Trump before the Department of Government Efficiency chief signed onto the president’s team.
It offers an insider’s recollection of a meeting between Musk and Trump to discuss electric vehicles in 2020. In 2022, Trump, in a jab at Musk, claimed that he wielded the power in the discussion. “I could have said, ‘drop to your knees and beg.’ and he would have done it,” Trump boasted.
Hubris Maximus paints a contrasting picture of the Oval Office encounter.
Trump, eager to score a victory in his push to boost American manufacturing, declared himself a Tesla owner and urged Musk to build more factories in the U.S.
Musk, however, was considering building a factory in Mexico or Canada. Trump asked him if there was anything the administration could do for him.
Musk said that nothing immediately came to mind.
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