A brand new biography has revealed that the longer term tech magnate drank an excessive amount of vodka whereas on a 2002 enterprise journey to Russia
Future Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk not solely failed to shut the rocket deal that he hoped to make whereas on a 2002 go to to Russia, but additionally handed out at a Moscow restaurant whereas consuming pictures of vodka throughout a enterprise assembly, a brand new ebook concerning the US tech billionaire has claimed.
The biography, written by Walter Isaacson and launched on Monday, particulars a visit during which Musk and two associates tried to purchase rockets for an area mission from a gaggle of unidentified Russian businesspeople. Earlier than founding SpaceX later that yr, Musk needed to spice up public curiosity in area exploration by sending a greenhouse to Mars.
The South Africa native was already “ragged” when he arrived in Moscow after partying throughout a stopover in Paris, Isaacson wrote. He then went to a lunch assembly within the again room of a Moscow restaurant, the place he consumed “small bites of meals interspersed with massive pictures of vodka.” The Russian businesspeople additionally gave custom-labeled bottles of vodka to Musk and his two companions, displaying photos of every man on Mars.
“I calculated the burden of the meals and the burden of the vodka, they usually had been roughly equal,” Musk instructed the creator. Because the enterprise talks and consuming progressed, “Musk, who was holding his head up along with his hand, handed out, and his head slammed into the desk,” the ebook stated.
Musk returned to the US pondering that he had negotiated an settlement to purchase two Dnepr rockets for a mixed $18 million, however because it turned out, the Russians needed that worth for every unit. When he complained, the sellers raised the value to $21 million every. Because the deal fell aside, the Russians mocked Musk, asking, “Oh, little boy, you don’t have the funds for?”
An excerpt from Isaacson’s ebook, launched final week, made Musk a goal of criticism for his refusal final yr to assist allow a Ukrainian drone assault on Russian naval forces off the coast of Crimea. The billionaire had given Ukraine free entry to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite tv for pc communications community after Russia launched its offensive in opposition to Kiev. Nonetheless, he refused to increase protection to Crimea, understanding that may imply permitting Starlink for use to information Ukrainian drones and probably triggering a wider battle.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren reportedly demanded on Monday that Congress examine Musk’s probably outsized affect on nationwide safety and overseas coverage. The SpaceX founder reportedly spoke to Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, earlier than refusing Ukraine’s request to increase its Starlink protection to Crimea.
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