Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary Musk takes an absorbing look at the world's richest man, tracing his rise from a young technology entrepreneur to one of the most powerful figures in business and politics. Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, the film examines Musk's companies, relationships, public persona and growing influence without allowing his larger-than-life reputation to obscure the questions surrounding his success. The documentary brings together former colleagues, family members and people who have known Musk personally. Musk himself does not appear for an interview, but Gibney uses a photorealistic computer-generated avatar to recreate his reported words.
The People Who Knew Musk Best
Among the film's most striking voices is Ashley St Clair, a former conservative Maga influencer and one of Musk's former girlfriends and the mother of one of his children. "Elon is a nuke," St Clair says, a description that captures the documentary's broader portrait of Musk as an extraordinarily powerful but difficult-to-control figure. Gibney also interviews Musk's father, Errol Musk, who discusses his son's childhood in South Africa, including the bullying and violence Musk experienced when he was young. His first wife, Justine Musk, provides another deeply personal perspective. She discusses the death of one of their infant children from SIDS and the pain she felt when Musk later discussed the death publicly on social media, claiming the child had died in his arms. She says the child died in her arms.
From Online Directories to Tesla and SpaceX
The documentary traces Musk's early career in technology, including an online Yellow Pages-style business in the 1990s and his involvement with Peter Thiel's PayPal. Musk made another fortune when PayPal was sold to eBay. He then moved into electric vehicles and became the central public figure behind Tesla. The film also examines claims that Musk misled the public about the range of Tesla vehicles. SpaceX became another defining chapter. Musk's ambitions for Mars helped build his image as a visionary, while the company developed rockets capable of landing and being reused. The film points out that both Tesla and SpaceX benefited from millions of dollars in federal funding and lines of credit.
Musk's Mars Dream Meets Reality
Musk has repeatedly promoted the idea of establishing human settlements on Mars, turning space exploration into one of the central pillars of his public image. Gibney's film questions what those ambitions ultimately mean in practical terms. SpaceX has demonstrated that reusable rockets can work, but the question of whether, and when, those rockets could transport people to habitable planets remains unresolved. That tension runs throughout the documentary. Musk has achieved tangible results, but his public claims and grand ambitions often extend far beyond what his companies have already accomplished.
From Obama Favorite to Trump Ally
Musk's political transformation is another major thread. At the beginning of the 21st century, he was embraced by liberal audiences and the Obama administration as an advocate for electric vehicles and a future built around alternatives to fossil fuels. That relationship eventually deteriorated. After Joe Biden appeared to take a more skeptical view of Musk's businesses, Musk became a major supporter of Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. Trump rewarded that support with a leadership role in the Department of Government Efficiency, known as Doge. The film examines the consequences of Musk's involvement in government, including the firing of thousands of revenue officers whose work involved collecting taxes. The documentary also addresses reports that Musk accessed and improperly shared sensitive Social Security information.
Why Gibney Compares Musk to Other Fallen Stars
One of the documentary's most interesting choices is its resemblance to films about figures such as Elizabeth Holmes, Sam Bankman-Fried and Billy McFarland. Like those figures, Musk built a public image around disruption and grand promises, attracting devoted followers and enormous media attention. But Gibney's film makes an important distinction: Musk has produced substantial, measurable successes. Tesla became a long-standing profitable company, while SpaceX developed successful reusable rockets. Musk also acquired X, formerly Twitter, and developed GrokAI, expanding his reach far beyond automobiles and aerospace.
The Power of Musk's Expanding Empire
Musk's influence now stretches across several industries. Tesla dominates his automotive identity, SpaceX operates rockets, Starlink provides satellite connectivity on which military capabilities increasingly rely, and X plays a major role in online discourse. GrokAI adds another major technology operation to the group, with large server facilities consuming significant amounts of water. His political influence has expanded alongside his corporate reach. The documentary argues that Musk's ability to move between technology, finance, social media and government makes his position fundamentally different from that of the business figures whose careers eventually collapsed. If Musk were to fall, the consequences would reach well beyond his companies, potentially sending shock waves through Wall Street, Washington and Silicon Valley.
What Comes Next
Musk ultimately leaves viewers with a complicated portrait of a businessman who has accumulated extraordinary power while making equally extraordinary claims about the future. The documentary does not reduce Musk to either fraud or visionary. His companies have achieved real technological and commercial successes, while his political influence and personal conduct remain subjects of intense scrutiny. As Musk's businesses and political reach continue to expand, Gibney's film suggests that the stakes surrounding the billionaire are no longer confined to the technology industry.
FAQ
What is Alex Gibney's Musk documentary about?
Musk is a four-hour documentary examining Elon Musk's career, businesses, relationships, political influence and public persona.
Does Elon Musk appear in the documentary?
Musk does not participate in an interview for the film. Gibney uses a photorealistic computer-generated avatar to recreate words attributed to Musk.
Who does Alex Gibney interview for Musk?
The film includes interviews with former colleagues, Musk's father Errol Musk, his first wife Justine Musk and Ashley St Clair, among others.
What companies are associated with Elon Musk in the documentary?
The film examines Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, X and GrokAI, along with Musk's earlier involvement in PayPal.
What is the documentary's view of Elon Musk?
The film presents Musk as a complicated figure whose companies have achieved substantial successes while his public claims, political activities and expanding influence remain controversial.
