Rolling Stone published a many-thousand-word profile of Elon Musk this morning, written by journalist, author, and motivational tweeter Neil Strauss, and it is, in a word, incredible.
The profile contains dozens of adverbs and an extensive psychoanalysis of Musk based on his posture, breathing patterns, and a “ring of red” that spontaneously appears around his eyes in the middle of a sentence. It gives Musk a handful of nicknames including “a titan, a visionary, a human-size lever pushing forward massive historical inevitabilities,” and “the kind of person who comes around only a few times in a century.” Most importantly, it dedicates at least 1,000 words to Musk’s romantic life and his recent break-up with actress Amber Heard — a subject that he broaches himself.
Here are some highlights, but I recommend reading the whole thing:
Then he heaves a sigh and ends his effort at composure. "I just broke up with my girlfriend," he says hesitantly. "I was really in love, and it hurt bad."
He pauses and corrects himself: "Well, she broke up with me more than I broke up with her, I think."
Strauss, for his part, seems to completely forget that he is interviewing “a titan, a visionary, a human-size lever,” and starts offering him relationship advice.
Musk discusses the breakup for a few more minutes, then asks, earnestly, deadpan, "Is there anybody you think I should date? It's so hard for me to even meet people." He swallows and clarifies, stammering softly, "I'm looking for a long-term relationship. I'm not looking for a one-night stand. I'm looking for a serious companion or soulmate, that kind of thing."
I eventually tell him that it may not be a good idea to jump right into another relationship. He may want to take some time to himself and figure out why his previous relationships haven't worked in the long run: his marriage to writer Justine Musk, his marriage to actress Talulah Riley, and this new breakup with actress Amber Heard.
Strauss seems worried about Musk’s loneliness, but does not seem worried that he is getting a little offtrack in his profile of a billionaire who wants to send human beings to Mars.
Musk shakes his head and grimaces: "If I'm not in love, if I'm not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy."
I explain that needing someone so badly that you feel like nothing without them is textbook codependence.
During this portion of the profile, when a different journalist (maybe? who can say!) might have considered pointing out how strange the interaction was, Strauss described Musk’s demeanor like this: “stiff, yet in the sheen of his eyes and the trembling of his lips, a high tide of emotion is visible, pushing against the retaining walls.”
The profile ends with Strauss imagining the statue of Musk that will be on Mars someday, which he hopes will not be actually of Musk in a literal sense, but of a “fuzzy bear” — Musk in a metaphorical sense.
Comments
We are . All . Only Human.
By eschwiz on 11.15.17 9:36am
Come on… it’s also a business decision. He can’t exactly go fooling around with random women risking that in the high chance they are not satisfied they’ll call your actions indecent , depraved or sexual assault in the emotional sense… like some of Louie C.K.‘s accusers seem to have done. I don’t blame them… He’s not exactly attractive.
Elon needs a partner the people will approve of. Neil Degrasse Tyson?
By shadox3 on 11.15.17 11:07am
Louis C.K.’s actions went pretty far beyond "the emotional sense" and this kind of paranoid defensiveness just contributes to a cultural hostility towards women who report sexual assault.
By Nicholi on 11.15.17 11:38am
Some of the reports were consensual. All of the reports were non physical… there was zero chance of an STD. I get that there is a lot of hostility, but Louie’s case is not in the same league as Cosby. Perhaps far beyond the emotional sense is technically accurate, but he wasn’t harmful in the physical sense, at least directly.
I honestly just want solutions… other than marrying monogamly or passing out consent contracts before speaking to anyone.
By shadox3 on 11.15.17 12:25pm
"Concent" should be in brackets — even Louis knew after the fact that consenting isn’t really consenting when requested from someone with perceived power over you.
Assuming this all happened because they were "not satisfied" after the fact is extremely disingenuous and dismissive of a horrible decision they probably never wanted to make in the first place.
By websnap on 11.15.17 1:04pm
I get where you’re coming from, but the implications are disturbing. Can a rich guy not hit on a poor girl? Can a hot woman not hit on an ugly guy? Can a college graduate not hit on a high school senior? Can a Rockstar hit on groupies?
All of those have always been frowned upon, but now we exile dicks into oblivion if we can, where as before, as charlie sheen demonstrated, being a dick was fine. Moral of the story is either A) Don’t be a dick or B) get a career with some social immunity, like being the president.
By shadox3 on 11.15.17 2:35pm
I am not really sure what implications you find so "disturbing" here.. Just follow a few simple rules – don’t show your dick to anyone, unless specifically asked.. don’t masturbate in front of anyone unless specifically asked (and probably not even then).. don’t make sexual advances at your subordinates.. keep your dick to yourself at most times (ok I already mentioned that).
I am a male in my late thirties and I have followed those simple rules throughout my adult life.. and no one ever accused me of any improper behavior, or taken me to court.
By ctyrider on 11.15.17 3:43pm
Thank you, this is constructive. I would add,
- Don’t have more than one drink an hour when traveling with a girl whom your relationship with is not well defined. Specially if you share a room. Specially at night. Specially after midnight. Specially if she is not single. Specially if she is a lesbian.
- Be progressive, and slow in receiving consent. It’s far better to be rejected after a neck kiss then after a George W.. If you want to grab her butt, slowly and sensually glide your hand through her whole back before reaching you destination, making sure she knows what’s happening, there are cameras watching and she’s not too inebriated. If you don’t do a good job you may still get kicked out the club though.
- Be attractive, take care of yourself, Bill cosby, Robert Scoble, and Luie have never heard of a weightloss clinic or a gym… don’t be like them. Robert Downy Jr, P Diddy and Brad Pitt are all probably just as bad or worse than Louie, but their approaches are more likely to be welcomed.
It’s still a concern that some grave digging in a future where the rules are stricter such as may have been the case with Spacey. In the future the definition of a subordinate may expand and views may become more conservative.
By shadox3 on 11.15.17 5:15pm
Those aren’t the same things at all. Can a rich guy not hit on a poor girl? Naturally, as long as the rich guy is not her boss and vice-versa. Can a hot woman not hit on an ugly guy? Happens all the time, and vice-versa. There is no real power dynamic here threatening someone’s well-being or way of life. Can a college graduate not hit on a high school senior? Dicy but as long as they are both consenting and legal, sure. Happens all the time. Can a Rockstar hit on groupies? Have the NDA, then sure.
Lol, I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks anything Sheen did was fine. If anything, he’s a text-book cautionary tale.
By websnap on 11.15.17 5:57pm
Also, and more to the point — If you have sway over someone (as a boss, teacher, mentor, officer, judge, anything with power) you just don’t make sexual advances to people you can fire/arrest/expel/throw in jail. Always think of the worst-case scenario if you are in that position. If you are a good person, you step away unless they make the advancement (even then, it’d be smart to turn it down unless you "click"). If you are thinking about ways you can "make sure it doesn’t come back at you"… you really shouldn’t be doing it.
By websnap on 11.15.17 6:04pm
maybe he is not. he just goes to superchargers every night and recharge.
By thomasthomaslai on 11.21.17 10:22am
I wanna buy this man a beer.
By Ray Bertocki on 11.15.17 9:37am
It’s somehow comforting that such a successful person succumbs to such human emotions we all experience.
By Upstat on 11.15.17 9:39am
Amen.
By JDNic on 11.15.17 10:25am
Amber Amber Amber, sigh. What were you thinking?
By Ryan Muller on 11.15.17 9:40am
She came to her senses. Elon’s rich and brilliant, but seems like a terrible partner.
By george_h on 11.15.17 9:46am
He needs a hardcore work-a-holic. The type of person who’d be happy taking two-three weeks off without talking or planning to do so, due to a mutual understanding that they are busy.
Rolling stones should know someone. Someone like Tina Fey… but she’s married. Hillary Clinton? what it’s not like she’s going to run again.
By Oldarney on 11.15.17 10:59am
Every man needs a good partner when he’s trying to crush union organization efforts and field lawsuits from injured and oppressed employees.
By nickexperience on 11.15.17 9:52am
Really curious to see the outcomes of those lawsuits. If he really did tell employees they need thicker skin, then it’ll completely change how I view him.
By Stone Cold Dan Quinn on 11.15.17 10:12am
well, relationships don’t run on Tesla’s auto pilot. …
sorry that’s best i can do right now, anyone else?
By thomasthomaslai on 11.15.17 9:55am
Even if they did, that feature wouldn’t actually work properly yet on HW2.
By bhtooefr on 11.15.17 10:02am
Reading these comments was very refreshing.
By PhatDummy on 11.15.17 10:36am
Is it just me, or are half of the comments here missing the incredulous tone of this article? Also:
By SirVer on 11.15.17 11:17am
I concur!
By llort on 11.15.17 1:30pm
Anyone else getting Tim Curry vibes from that cover photo?
By ench on 11.15.17 11:39am