Curated By: Shaurya Sharma
Last Updated: September 05, 2023, 10:45 IST
San Francisco, California, USA
Musk’s biography written by Walter Isaacson releases on September 12. (Image: Cover of ‘Elon Musk’ – left, Parag Agrawal – right)
Until recently, the core reason for Elon Musk’s firing of former X CEO Parag Agrawal remained unclear. However, Musk’s biography by Walter Isaacson now reveals that he sought a ‘fire-breathing dragon,’ and Agrawal didn’t fit the role.
When Elon Musk took control of X (formerly Twitter) in a $44 billion deal last year, one of his initial decisions was to dismiss X’s top leadership—including then-CEO Parag Agrawal and others like Vijaya Gadde. Until recently, the reasons behind Elon Musk’s decision to part ways with Agrawal remained unclear. However, thanks to Musk’s biography, written by Walter Isaacson, it has been revealed that Musk sought a “fire-breathing dragon” as the Twitter CEO, and, per Musk, Parag Agrawal did not fit that role.
Musk’s upcoming biography, titled ‘Elon Musk,’ is scheduled for release on September 12—the same day when the new iPhone 15 series launches. Authored by Walter Isaacson, the book gets into the life of the billionaire founder of numerous companies—including SpaceX, and his journey to acquire and manage X (Twitter).
According to The Wall Street Journal, which shared an excerpt from the biography, Musk was quite opinionated about Parag Agrawal before and after acquiring Twitter. In ‘Elon Musk,’ Musk is quoted as saying, “He is a really nice guy, but managers should not aim to be liked. What Twitter needs is a fire-breathing dragon, and Parag is not that.”
After becoming the new CEO of X in 2022 and becoming the ‘chief twit,’ Musk was critical of X’s efforts to restrict free speech on the platform. He even said that the ‘bird is freed’ following his acquisition of Twitter and the dismissal of Parag Agrawal and others.
As for Walter Isaacson, his X account suggests that he has been accompanying Musk to the X headquarters for a while now. “At the Twitter headquarters’ coffee bar, @elonmusk,” Isaacson posted on X on October 27, 2022. Since then, Isaacson has frequently shared content related to Musk on X. Notably, Walter Isaacson has also written biographies for other highly successful people including Apple founder Steve Jobs as well.
Following the termination of Parag Agrawal—as mentioned earlier—Musk assumed the role of CEO at X and made a series of decisions, some controversial and others that were quite appreciated by users. And it was only in June that Musk appointed Linda Yaccarino, a former NBCUniversal executive, as the new CEO of X.
