Elon Musk‘s World: 6 corporations. Operations in 9 countries. A leader with a net worth of $208.6 billion. There’s no shortage of controversy surrounding the world’s richest man—and his companies are poised to shape our lives for decades to come.
Fortune’s standalone digital edition delves into how Musk runs his empire—and illuminates how the idiosyncratic billionaire has adopted a set of management principles that aren’t taught in any business school.
Elon Musk‘s Universe is available today exclusively on Fortune.com
NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Today Fortune published Inside Elon’s Universe: a special digital edition of unauthorized and revealing investigative stories about the companies, management style, and influence of the world’s richest man, arguably the most visionary and controversial CEO in business today.
Fortune’s Inside Elon’s Universe, a 10-part digital edition – one of only a few in the 94-year history of Fortune – is available exclusively on Fortune.com and in Fortune’s channel on Apple News+.
Elon Musk’s drills are boring below cities, his rockets and satellites are circling the globe, and his vast AI ambitions are just starting to take shape. But he courts controversy relentlessly—most recently endorsing an antisemitic post on X, which caused several blue-chip advertisers to pull their business from the site. In many ways he is his own worst enemy.
Though he’s ubiquitous, Musk’s bigger-than-life persona and penchant for wild exaggeration make it hard to comprehend what he’s actually building and where his larger aims may lie. Fortune’s investigation into his holdings reveals an unusual mix of true technological breakthroughs in some corners, dashed hopes at projects that no longer hold his attention, a corporate culture that one employee said resembles a “big fire drill every single day.”
Taken together, Inside Elon’s Universe is a groundbreaking, unauthorized investigation – told through interviews, stories, charts and maps – into how the world’s richest man runs an unprecedented empire of corporations that are endlessly controversial, wildly unconventional, and poised to shape our lives for decades to come.
“Why write about the most famous, most covered man in the world? Well, he’s the world’s wealthiest person, the first person to run six major companies at once, and arguably wields more influence, and ability to polarize, than anyone on the planet,” said Alyson Shontell, Fortune editor in chief. “So we decided to examine how all of his companies interconnect, how they are run, and just how they are doing. Much is of course known about Elon already, but we uncovered more.”
INSIDE ELON’S UNIVERSE includes:
Trouble Below: Shelved projects, politics, and slow progress seem to have dulled Elon Musk’s tunneling dreams at the Boring Company.
BY JESSICA MATHEWS
Mapping Musk’s Universe: Where in the world is Elon Musk? Everywhere it seems. From Austin to Shanghai his plants are spitting out parts and combining components to produce his myriad product lines. Musk is the ultimate operator—and here’s a look at everywhere he operates.
BY LUISA BELTRAN / GRAPHICS BY NICOLAS RAPP
Musk’s 10 Laws of Management: Deciphering the world’s strangest executive playbook.
BY SHAWN TULLY
Elon’s Inner Circle: The top minds and managers running Musk’s multiple enterprises.
BY LUISA BELTRAN
Musk by the Numbers: Since we’ve known him, Elon Musk has racked up some big hits—and some wild misses.
BY THE FORTUNE STAFF
Inside the death of Twitter and birth of X: An oral history of the first year inside Elon Musk’s takeover.
BY KYLIE ROBISON
What Is xAI Exactly?: Musk’s new AI may be ‘rebellious’ and snarky, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.
BY DAVID MEYER
Solar Burnout – One of Elon Musk’s best products is fizzling inside his least successful business.
BY CHRISTIAAN HETZNER
How Green Is Elon, Really? : It’s a fundamental conundrum about the billionaire.
BY PETER VANHAM
Why Elon Loves Lawsuits: How Musk uses litigation to deflect—and bully—his critics.
BY JEFF JOHN ROBERTS
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Contacts:
Patrick Reilly
Patrick.Reilly@Fortune.com
Amy Galleazzi
Amy.Galleazzi@consultant.fortune.com
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