Elon Musk's worldview and business practices are deeply rooted in apartheid South Africa's model of technological self-sufficiency and fortress-like state control, according to a new historical analysis by technology writers Ben Tarnoff and historian Quinn Slobodian. Their book, "Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed," traces how Musk's formative years in a regime obsessed with economic and technological independence shaped his later industrial strategy across Tesla, SpaceX, and his other ventures.

What Is "Fortress Futurism" and How Does It Connect to Musk's Business Model?

The apartheid South African state pursued aggressive technological self-sufficiency, obtaining automobile manufacturing licenses from Ford and developing a nuclear weapons program with American and Israeli assistance. The regime built an operational nuclear bomb by the early 1980s. When examining Musk's career as an industrialist, striking parallels emerge in his preference for vertical integration and reducing reliance on outside suppliers.

"The term that we use for it is 'fortress futurism,' which we feel captures well both the sense of risk or danger and the requirement of using high tech to garrison the state and arm its defenders," explained Quinn Slobodian, historian and co-author of the book.

Quinn Slobodian, Historian and Co-Author, "Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed"

This concept resonates not only with apartheid South Africa itself but also with the science fiction cartoons Musk consumed during his formative years, including Robotech and Transformers. Slobodian noted that Musk has referenced these shows in later posts and even incorporated their aesthetic into product naming.

How Does Science Fiction Shape Musk's Vision of the Future?

The influence of science fiction on Musk is complex and multifaceted. While Musk frequently invokes science fiction concepts in interviews and public statements, technology writer Ben Tarnoff cautioned against taking these references at pure face value. Instead, Musk uses science fiction as a cultural signaling mechanism, a way to cultivate fandom and maintain the type of devoted following that has been crucial to his financial and political success.

One particularly important touchstone is the concept of the "mech" or "mecha," drawn from Japanese comic books and animation. This depicts a giant robotic suit that a human pilot, often a young male, enters and fuses with in a cybernetic integration to defend a civilization under attack. When Musk discusses the necessity of humans becoming cyborgs through brain-computer interfaces and integrating into what he describes as a "giant cybernetic collective," the resonance with these childhood influences becomes apparent.

"The question of science fiction's influence on Musk is a bit tricky. When you're writing and thinking about someone like Musk, there's always this question of how much of his statements to take at face value. He often uses science fiction as a signaling mechanism, as a way to signal his affinity within a particular nerd culture," noted Ben Tarnoff, technology writer and co-author.

Ben Tarnoff, Technology Writer and Co-Author, "Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed"

Ways to Understand Musk as a "Representative Man" of Modern Capitalism

Rather than viewing Musk as an anomaly, Tarnoff and Slobodian frame him as a "representative man" in the tradition of Ralph Waldo Emerson, someone whose career trajectory illuminates broader patterns in global capitalism. His evolution across different economic eras provides a pedagogical window into how power and ideology operate in contemporary business.

• Dot-Com Era Millionaire: Musk emerged in the 1990s Silicon Valley tech boom, an experience that shaped his cultural worldview and approach to venture capital fundraising, where investors demand not incremental improvements but entirely new market sectors and realities.
• Pentagon Contractor: He transitioned into the aerospace sector during the early years of the "war on terror," becoming a key government contractor for the Department of Defense and learning how to navigate state-corporate relationships.
• Green Capitalism Entrepreneur: Musk rode the wave of brief experimentation with green capitalism during Barack Obama's first term, positioning Tesla as a solution to climate change while building a personal brand as a visionary.
• Political Ideologue: In recent years, Musk has used his fame, wealth, and control of the X platform (formerly Twitter) to promote what scholars describe as white supremacist and ethnonationalist politics, including propagating myths about "white genocide" in South Africa.

This progression reveals how Musk has absorbed, remixed, and radicalized broader trends within the economy, society, and culture. His businesses span multiple sectors: Tesla (the electric vehicle company), SpaceX (the rocket manufacturer), X (the social media platform), xAI (his artificial intelligence enterprise featuring Grok), Neuralink (brain-computer interface technology), and the Boring Company (tunnel construction). Of these, only Tesla and SpaceX are currently profitable, generating combined profits of approximately $12 billion.

Yet Musk's estimated fortune of $655 billion, according to Bloomberg, far exceeds what these profits alone would justify. Most of his wealth derives from SpaceX and Tesla stock valuations that defy conventional financial logic. Tesla trades at 372 times its annual profits, while SpaceX is expected to go public at a valuation around $2 trillion, or roughly 250 times profits. These astronomical valuations persist because investors believe in what Tarnoff and Slobodian call "Elon's magic," a phenomenon rooted in his ability to articulate grand visions that transcend traditional business metrics.

Understanding Musk requires examining not just his stated beliefs but his actual practice of capitalism. Tarnoff emphasized that the intellectual history of a capitalist cannot be reduced to their reading list or childhood influences. Instead, it emerges from the day-to-day practice of organizing workers, pitching to investors, and obtaining government contracts. In this context, science fiction functions not as mere entertainment but as the lingua franca of Silicon Valley fundraising, where venture capitalists will only make massive bets if promised equally massive returns and entirely new realities.