Tesla Files

Elon Musk is reaching for the world as his influence is spanning the globe. A billionaire with a net worth exceeding 300 billion dollars, he controls Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, and and the platform X. His technology impacts conflicts, his platform shapes public opinion, and his wealth grants him political power. Musk invested 260 million dollars in Trump’s election campaign, and his fortune grew by 150 billion after Trump’s election win. Positioning himself as shadow president in the U.S., he has his ‘personnel’ prowl through government institutions to gain access to power without electoral approval. How did it come to this?

Investigative journalists Sönke Iwersen and Michael Verfürden have gained unprecedented access to important resources: At the end of 2022, a whistle-blower came forward. And soon they were in possession of 100 gigabytes of internal data. A two-year investigation began, which is now published as Die Tesla-Files – Enthüllungen aus dem Reich von Elon Musk by C.H. Beck publishing house. And it is a very disturbing picture of Musk and his various companies they paint: His employees are bound to him with near-cult-like devotion, while his customers are strung along with empty promises. Tesla has implemented an opaque system that conceals critical data from customers and authorities in the event of accidents—all to protect Musk’s vision of autonomous driving.

The Tesla Files are the most important exposé to date on the most powerful entrepreneur in the world. It reveals how Musk shapes the economy, politics, and technology according to his own vision and will—in disregard and in disrespect of people, laws, and institutions. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how a single person has come to reshaping the world.

Sönke Iwersen is the prize-winning head of the investigative section of the German business newspaper Handelsblatt and responsible for the popular podcast Handelsblatt Crime.

Michael Verfürden is an investigative journalist working for Handelsblatt. He landed a major scoop with revelations about the Wirecard scandal. He also teaches research methods in cyberspace for business journalists.

Ulrike Herrmann is a business and economic editor of the German newspaper tageszeitung (taz). After training as a bank clerk, she studied philosophy and history at Berlin‘s Freie Universität. She is the author of many best-selling books on economic history and politics, most recently: Das Ende des Kapitalismus. Warum Wachstum und Klimaschutz nicht vereinbar sind  (KiWi 2024).

Una Titz is specialised in disinformation policies and digital threats to democracy.  She researches how net policies are getting instrumentalized by enemies of modern democracies, and how platform dynamics are shaping political opinions.