Elon Musk And Steve Jobs Said The Same Thing To Biographer Walter Isaacson: 'I'm Just A Working Class Kid...'

Like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk is also known for his unapologetically ruthless approach to business, according to author Walter Isaacson in a recent interview. However, there’s a common philosophy behind this, which may or may not work for everyone. 

What Happened: The acclaimed author and journalist behind biographies of renowned figures like Jobs, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, and Benjamin Franklin recently sat down for a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, during which he drew interesting parallels between two of the most influential figures in the tech world: Musk and Jobs.

During the interview, Isaacson said, “Jobs said the same thing that Musk said to me, he said ‘People like you love wearing velvet gloves’… ‘you like people to like you, you like to sweet-talk things, you sugarcoat things,’ he says, ‘I’m just a working-class kid, and I don’t have that luxury. If something sucks, I’ve got to tell people it sucks’.” 

See Also: Did Elon Musk Just Admit That Twitter’s Value Is Down By 90% After His $44B Acquisition?

Isaacson noted that while some may question the necessity of such an approach, it was sometimes crucial to be brutally honest when reshaping industries and driving progress. 

He cited Jon McNeill, the president of Tesla, saying not everyone needed to be that way, but success often required such unwavering determination.

Isaacson is currently a hot topic for writing Musk’s biography, which will be released on Tuesday. 

Friday noted two quotes that open the book, one by Musk and the other by the renowned Apple co-founder. 

Musk’s quote, “To anyone I have offended, I just want to say I reinvented electric cars, and I’m sending people to Mars on a rocket ship. Did you also think I was going to be a chill, normal dude?”

Jobs famously said, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Watch the complete podcast here: 

Why It’s Important: In February this year, Steve Wozniak also said that Musk and Jobs are “very similar” and compared the duo to wanting to be seen as “cult leaders.”

However, Woznika also accused Musk company, Tesla, saying they “robbed” him and his family. “Steve Jobs wasn’t really so dishonest, but he would say things in ways that… He just had a way of grabbing you and following whatever he said, regardless. But it wasn’t really that untruthful.”

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Read Next: Elon Musk Debunks Doom And Gloom On Climate Change, Doesn’t Think The World Will End As We Know It

Image created using photos from Shutterstock and by Ben Stanfield on Flickr