16 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

16 致谢

FROM A PROCESS PERSPECTIVE, this will always be two books instead of one in my mind. There's the time Before Elon, and the time After Elon.

从进程的角度来看，在我眼中这永远是两本书，而不是一本。埃隆同意接受采访是两者的分界点，一前一后，迥然不同。

The first eighteen months or so of reporting were filled with tension, sorrow, and joy. As mentioned in the main text, Musk initially opted against helping me with the project. This left me going from interview subject to interview subject, giving a huge windup each time to try to talk an ex-Tesla employee or an old schoolmate into an interview. The highs came when people agreed to talk. The lows came when key people said no and to not bother them again. String four or five of those no's together in a row, and it felt at times like writing a proper book about Musk was impossible.

写这本书的前18个月左右的时间里满是各种紧张、悲伤和喜悦。正如正文中所言，马斯克一开始是不愿意帮助我进行这个项目的。我只能自己去采访一个个当事人，而每次想要劝服特斯拉的前员工或马斯克的前校友接受采访都困难重重。当有人答应接受我的采访时，我就很亢奋，而当关键人物拒绝了我，或者叫我别再来烦他时，我的心情又会跌至谷底。有时候一连四五个人拒绝了我的请求，让我时常觉得写一本像样的关于马斯克的书真的是一项不可能完成的任务。

The thing that keeps you going is that a few people do say yes and then a few more, and—interview by interview—you start to figure out how the past fits together. I'll be forever grateful to the hundreds of people who were willing to give freely of their time and especially to those who let me come back again and again with questions. There are too many of these people to list, but gracious souls—like Jeremy Hollman, Kevin Brogan, Dave Lyons, Ali Javidan, Michael Colonno, and Dolly Singh—each provided invaluable insights and abundant technical help. Heartfelt thanks go as well to Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, both of whom added crucial, rich parts to the Tesla story.

不过，还是有几个人答应了我的请求，这给了我坚持的动力，然后又有人愿意接受采访，这样的一个个采访让我开始理清曾经发生的诸多事情是如何铺展成为一个整体的。我永远都要感谢那些愿意在百忙之中抽空帮助我，尤其是那些让我不厌其烦地提问题的好心人。有太多的人需要感谢，但尤其要感谢的是这些善心人士——杰里米·霍尔曼、凯文·布罗根、戴维·里昂、阿里·贾维丹、迈克尔·科隆诺和多莉·辛格，他们给了我各种宝贵意见和大量的技术支持。我还想对马丁·艾伯哈德和马克·塔彭宁表示由衷的感谢，是他们帮助我丰富了特斯拉故事中最重要的部分。

Even in this Before Elon period, Musk did permit some of his closer friends to speak with me, and they were generous with their time and intellect. That's a special thanks then to George Zachary and Shervin Pishevar, and especially to Bill Lee, Antonio Gracias, and Steve Jurvetson, who really went out of their way for Musk and for me. And I obviously owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Justine Musk, Maye Musk, Kimbal Musk, Peter Rive, Lyndon Rive, Russ Rive, and Scott Haldeman for their time and for letting me hear some of the family stories. Talulah Riley was kind enough to let me interview her and keep prying into her husband's life. She really brought out some aspects of Musk's personality that I had not encountered elsewhere, and she helped build a much deeper understanding of him. This meant a lot to me, and, I think, it will to the readers as well.

甚至在埃隆同意采访之前，马斯克也允许他一些较亲近的朋友和我谈话，他们很大方地安排了与我会面的时间，并提供了很多有用的素材。特别要感谢乔治·扎卡里、谢尔文·皮谢瓦，以及比尔·李、安东尼奥·格雷西亚斯和斯蒂夫·尤尔韦松，感谢他们不怕麻烦，竭力帮助马斯克和我。我还要感谢贾斯汀·马斯克、梅耶·马斯克、金巴尔·马斯克、彼得·赖夫、林登·赖夫、拉斯·莱夫和斯科特·霍尔德曼，是他们告诉了我埃隆的家庭生活。感谢妲露拉·莱莉的好意，让我采访她并打听她丈夫的日常生活。她向我透露了马斯克性格的其他方面，这些事我以前从来不曾听闻，这帮助我更深入地了解了他的性格。这对我来说意义重大，我相信对读者来说也是如此。

Once Musk agreed to work with me, much of the tension that accompanied the reporting went away and was replaced by excitement. I got access to people like JB Straubel, Franz von Holzhausen, Diarmuid O'Connell, Tom Mueller, and Gwynne Shotwell, who are all among the most intelligent and compelling figures I've run into during years of reporting. I'm forever grateful for their patience explaining bits of company history and technological basics to me and for their candor. Thanks as well to Emily Shanklin, Hannah Post, Alexis Georgeson, Liz Jarvis-Shean, and John Taylor, for dealing with my constant requests and pestering, and for setting up so many interviews at Musk's companies. Mary Beth Brown, Christina Ra, and Shanna Hendriks were no longer part of Musk Land near the end of my reporting but were all amazing in helping me learn about Musk, Tesla, and SpaceX.

当马斯克同意接受我的采访时，先前采访中产生的紧张感一扫而空，取而代之的是无比的激动之情。我终于有机会接近J·B·斯特劳贝尔、弗朗茨·冯·霍兹豪森、迪尔米德·奥康奈尔、汤姆·米勒和格温·肖特维尔这样的人物，他们都是我做记者这么多年来遇到的最聪明、最有吸引力的人物。我要感谢他们耐心地向我解释公司的历史和技术知识，并坦率地向我表达了自己的观点。感谢艾米丽·尚克林、汉娜·帕斯特、艾利克斯·乔治森、丽兹·贾维斯·尚，以及约翰·泰勒，他们不厌其烦地满足了我的请求，让我能够在马斯克的公司里进行那么多次采访。玛丽·贝思·布朗、克里斯缇娜·拉和莎娜·亨德里克斯在我的采访接近尾声时已经离开了马斯克的公司，但他们还是帮助我了解了马斯克、特斯拉和SpaceX的情况。

My biggest debt of gratitude, of course, goes to Musk. When we first started doing the interviews, I would spend the hours leading up to our chats full of nerves. I never knew how long Musk would keep participating in the project. He might have given me one interview or ten. There was real pressure to get my most crucial questions answered up front and to be to the point in my initial interviewing. As Musk stuck around, though, the conversations went longer, were more fluid, and became more enlightening. They were the things I most looked forward to every month. Whether Musk will change the course of human history in a massive way remains to be seen, but it was certainly a thrilling privilege to get to pick the brain of someone who is reaching so high. While reticent at first, once Musk committed to the project, he committed fully, and I'm thankful and honored that things turned out that way.

我最需要感谢的人当然还是马斯克。我们刚开始进行采访时，我紧张地花了几个小时与之攀谈。我无法确定马斯克愿意花多少时间在我的项目上，可能我只有一次见他的机会，也可能是10次。这对我造成了极大的压力，因为我得在首次访问时直接切入主题，让他直面回答我最重要的问题。马斯克在房间里踱来踱去，我们的聊天也更加深入、流畅，给我越来越多的启发。这些是我每个月最期待的事情。虽然马斯克能否极大改变人类历史的进程仍未可知，但能够有机会获知这样一位卓越人士的想法着实是令人深感荣幸。虽然马斯克在一开始有些沉默寡言，但当他承诺参与我的项目之后，他完全践行了自己的承诺，我很高兴也很荣幸能够获得他的帮助。

On a professional front, I'd like to thank my editors and coworkers over the years—China Martens, James Niccolai, John Lettice, Vindu Goel, and Suzanne Spector—each of whom taught me different lessons about the craft of writing. Special thanks go to Andrew Orlowski, Tim O'Brien, Damon Darlin, Jim Aley, and Drew Cullen, who have had the most impact on how I think about writing and reporting and are among the best mentors anyone could hope for. I must also offer up infinite thanks to Brad Wieners and Josh Tyrangiel, my bosses at Bloomberg Businessweek, for giving me the freedom to pursue this project. I doubt there are two people doing more to support quality journalism.

在专业上，我要感谢我的编辑和多年来的同事——柴娜·马顿斯、詹姆斯·尼古拉、约翰·莱蒂斯、温都·哥埃尔和苏珊娜·斯佩克特，是他们教会了我如何写作。感谢安德鲁·奥尔洛夫斯基、蒂姆·奥布莱恩、达蒙·达林、吉姆·阿利和德鲁·卡伦，他们影响了我对写作和报道的看法，是我的良师益友。我还要感谢我在《彭博商业周刊》的老板布拉德·温拿斯和乔什·泰兰基尔，让我能够自由地进行这一项目，我觉得可能没有谁会比他们更支持对新闻质量的追求了！

A special brand of thanks goes to Brad Stone, my colleague at the New York Times and then at Businessweek. Brad helped me shape the idea for this book, coaxed me through dark times, and was an unrivaled sounding board. I feel bad for pestering Brad so incessantly with my questions and doubts. Brad is a model colleague, always there to help anyone with advice or to step up and take on work. He's an amazing writer and an incredible friend.

我还要感谢我在《纽约时报》和《彭博商业周刊》时的同事布拉德·斯通。他帮助我构思了本书的观点，让我重新振作，是我最坚强的后盾。我总是用各种疑问去麻烦他，但他是一个模范同事，总是随时准备着向别人提供建议或者帮助我们。他是个优秀的作家，也是个值得深交的朋友。

Thanks as well to Keith Lee and Sheila Abichandani Sandfort. They are two of the brightest, kindest, most genuine people I know, and their feedback on the early text was invaluable.

感谢基斯·李和谢拉·比肯黛尼·森德福特，他们是我认识的最聪明、最善良，也是最真诚的人，他们对我早期文章的反馈让我获益良多。

My agent David Patterson and editor Hilary Redmon were instrumental in helping pull this project off. David always seemed to say the right thing at low moments to pick up my spirits. Frankly, I doubt the book would have happened without the encouragement and momentum he provided during the initial part of the project. Once things got going, Hilary talked me through the trickiest moments and elevated the book to an unexpected place. She tolerated my hissy fits and made dramatic improvements to the writing. It's wonderful to finish something like this and come out the other side with a pair of such good friends. Thanks so much to you both.

我的经纪人戴维·帕特森和编辑希拉里·雷德蒙帮助我完成了这个项目。戴维总能在我情绪低落时让我重拾信心。坦白地说，在项目初期如果没有他的帮助和鼓励，我很怀疑自己是否能够完成这本书的写作。项目开始之后，与希拉里聊天让我顺利度过了那些最为艰难的时刻，她的帮助把这本书推到了一个意想不到的高度。她也容忍了我的坏脾气，对我的作品进行了很多修改。这是一种奇妙的感觉，有这样两位朋友是我的幸运。谢谢你们。

Last, I have to thank my family. This book turned into a living, breathing creature that made life difficult on my family for more than two years. I didn't get to see my young boys as much as I would have liked during this time, but when I did they were there with energizing smiles and hugs. I'm thankful that they both seem to have picked up an interest in rockets and cars as a result of this project. As for my wife, Melinda, well, she was a saint. From a practical perspective, this book could not have happened without her support. Melinda was my best reader and ultimate confidante. She was that best friend who knew when to try to energize me and when to let things go. Even though this book disrupted our lives for a long while, it brought us closer together in the end. I'm blessed to have such a partner, and I will forever remember what Melinda did for our family.

最后，我还得感谢我的家人。两年多来，这本书的写作对我的家人造成了很大的困扰。在这期间我很少陪伴自己的孩子，但每当我有空和他们在一起时，他们都会用充满活力的笑容和拥抱温暖我。我很高兴，因为这个项目让他们似乎都对火箭和汽车产生了浓厚的兴趣。我的妻子梅琳达真是个贤妻良母。实际上，如果没有她的支持，我根本不可能完成这本书。梅琳达是我最好的读者，是我的红颜知己。她也是我最好的朋友，她知道什么时候应该给我鼓励，什么时候让我忘记烦恼。即使这本书暂时打乱了我们的生活，最后也让我们彼此变得更加亲近。能够拥有这样一个伴侣是我的福气，我会永远记住她对整个家庭的付出。