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  • Power Play

  • Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century
  • Written by: Tim Higgins
  • Narrated by: Will Damron
  • Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (18 ratings)

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Power Play

Written by: Tim Higgins
Narrated by: Will Damron
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Publisher's Summary

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BUSINESS BESTSELLER • The riveting inside story of Elon Musk and Tesla's bid to build the world's greatest car—from award-winning Wall Street Journal tech and auto reporter Tim Higgins.  

“A deeply reported and business-savvy chronicle of Tesla's wild ride.” —Walter Isaacson, New York Times Book Review

Tesla is the envy of the automotive world.  Born at the start of the millennium, it was the first car company to be valued at $1 trillion. Its CEO, the mercurial, charismatic Elon Musk has become not just a celebrity but the richest man in the world.

But Tesla’s success was far from guaranteed. Founded in the 2000s, the company was built on an audacious vision. Musk and a small band of Silicon Valley engineers set out to make a car that was quicker, sexier, smoother, and cleaner than any gas-guzzler on the road. Tesla would undergo a hellish fifteen years, beset by rivals—pressured by investors, hobbled by whistleblowers. Musk often found himself in the public’s crosshairs, threatening to bring down the company he had helped build.

Wall Street Journal tech and auto reporter Tim Higgins had a front-row seat for the drama: the pileups, breakdowns, and the unlikeliest outcome of all, success. A story of impossible wagers and unlikely triumphs, Power Play is an exhilarating look at how a team of innovators beat the odds—and changed the future.

©2021 Tim Higgins (P)2021 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"[A] sweeping history of the electric-car juggernaut.... I’ve covered Tesla as a reporter since 2016. When Higgins writes about facts and situations I’m familiar with, I can attest he’s right on the button, every time.” (Los Angeles Times

"Tim Higgins’ compelling and deeply reported history of Tesla addresses the essential question of how this upstart automaker came from nowhere to become one of the most valuable companies on Earth.... An exceptional work of business journalism." (Washington Post

“Tense, detailed and well-crafted...Power Play is a business thriller for real.... A clear, deeply reported and engaging account of how Musk launched a truly transformational car.” (Associated Press) 

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In-depth coverage of the Tesla story

very interesting and detailed. I recommend this book to anyone interested in entrepreneurship and about electric cars.

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Cynical View - Dark Story Telling

I would only recommended this in the sense of timeline and chronology of events. I didn’t learn a lot of new stuff though, just some of the fund raising mechanisms used over the years. The author tells the whole book like he expects Tesla to fail, not enough good stories, just stories from people who fell out the bottom. At the end he says Musk’s opinion of this book is that it is all non-sense. A lot of the stories seem made up or exaggerated or one sided. Looking forward to Walter Isaacson’s Biography of Musk, expecting it to be brutal but balanced.

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