New Book Reveals Musk’s Bold Vision
Masterplan: Elon Musk Unstoppable – How the Mastermind is Transforming Our World, Edition 2025, Andreas Dripke, 360 pages, ISBN 978-3-98674-136-5
Exceptional Entrepreneur and Global Political Actor: Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, X, xAI, Grok, Neuralink, Hyperloop, The Boring Company, DOGE, Global Politics
In his latest book, Masterplan: Elon Musk Unstoppable (ISBN 978-3-98674-136-5), author Andreas Dripke explores how the "Muskification" of our world is taking shape. Dripke argues that Elon Musk's increasing political engagement is no coincidence. As the world’s wealthiest and potentially most powerful individual, Musk is executing a master plan where his innovations, companies, and political ventures seamlessly align, like pieces of a grand puzzle. Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, X, xAI, Grok, Neuralink, Hyperloop, The Boring Company, his role as a US government advisor, and Co-Chief of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – all are interconnected components of Musk's expansive vision. Dripke unpacks this comprehensive strategy in detail across 360 pages, revealing how each of Musk's endeavors fits into a larger agenda.
“First Principle Thinking” Revolutionizes Entire Industries
The book also delves into the concept of "First Principle Thinking," the mindset that enables Elon Musk to revolutionize every market he enters. The author examines each industry in detail, analyzing the pivotal role Musk's companies play in reshaping these sectors.
According to the book, Tesla, once an underdog, has completely disrupted the automotive industry. The shift towards e-mobility and its sustainability benefits only gained political attention thanks to Musk's influence. The broader automotive sector, however, was slow to adopt electric vehicles, doing so only when it became nearly unavoidable. "Tesla's success paved the way for the combustion engine ban in the EU," Dripke points out, using this example to emphasize the significant and often indirect impact Elon Musk has had on global politics for years.
While the debate over the viability of electric cars continues in Europe, the self-driving car is making significant strides in the USA. "In San Francisco, driverless autonomous taxis are already part of the everyday street scene," says Dripke. Although these vehicles are currently from Tesla's competitor, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google's Alphabet, Dripke warns, "It would be naive to assume Tesla will fail with autonomous vehicles." The book compares this progress to the efforts of the German automotive industry, concluding that German manufacturers are a generation behind the US in autonomous driving technology. While companies like Mercedes celebrate vehicles that can automatically follow a car on highways without oncoming or cross traffic, Tesla and Waymo have already mastered the far more complex task of navigating urban traffic in American cities. The book also highlights that Tesla’s primary competition now comes from China. In 2024, Tesla saw a slight decline in global deliveries, while China’s BYD reported a 41% increase in deliveries, mainly hybrid vehicles. However, BYD delivered more than 1.76 million all-electric vehicles last year—only 30,000 fewer than Tesla.
SpaceX is Two Generations Ahead of Europe in Space
Even more significant is Musk's success with his space activities, Dripke writes in his new book. "SpaceX has revolutionized space travel in two aspects, namely in rocket construction and with the global satellite network Starlink," the author analyzes. The book argues that Europe's latest rocket model, Ariane 6 (first flight on July 9, 2024), lags behind SpaceX's counterpart, Falcon 9 (first flight on June 4, 2010), by "at least one generation." The reason: Ariane 6 is a single-use rocket with no reusable parts, while Falcon 9's first stage and parts of the payload fairing return to Earth and can be reused on subsequent flights. Reusability is seen as a key cost factor, particularly for satellite deployment. SpaceX's Starship (first orbital flight on May 5, 2021) is roughly twice the size as Ariane 6 and can carry about five times the payload into space. Andreas Dripke summarizes: "Europe's space activities are two generations behind SpaceX." This gives not only Musk's company but also the USA, through the state-industrial complex of NASA and SpaceX, an "almost insurmountable advantage in the race for space."
Even today, Europe has little chance of catching up with Starlink. The EU launched a comparable satellite network (IRIS2) in December 2024, but it will cover the European continent with only 290 satellites and is not expected to be operational until 2030. By comparison, Starlink will have nearly 7,000 satellites around the globe by 2025. "The US is orders of magnitude ahead of Europe in space technology, and they owe it largely to Elon Musk," concludes Andreas Dripke. In his book, he outlines the far-reaching consequences: from today's use of satellites to control drones in war zones or natural disasters, to a paradigm shift in global communications ("satellites instead of fiber optics or mobile phones"), to long-term projects such as asteroid mining or the colonization of Mars. "With Musk's Starlink, any future US administration will have a trump card far beyond Trump's term, the strategic importance of which cannot be overestimated," Dripke says.
AI Robots in the Future: As Ubiquitous as Smartphones Today
Andreas Dripke believes Musk will also lead the way in artificial intelligence (AI) with his xAI company. Elon Musk, one of the early investors in OpenAI, has already caught up with ChatGPT and Google's Gemini with his own AI called Grok. The construction of xAI's Colossus AI supercomputer in just four months from design to operation is described by Dripke as an industry sensation. Colossus is widely regarded as the most powerful AI computer system currently available. Musk is also developing a human-like AI robot called Optimus that will become as commonplace in our daily lives as smartphones are today.
Besides cars, rockets, satellites, and AI robots, Musk is working on brain-implantable computer chips at his company Neuralink. In early 2024, a paralyzed person received the first Neuralink chip implant, significantly improving their quality of life, according to their own statements, by allowing activities previously impossible due to paralysis. "This is just the beginning," says Dripke, outlining Musk's master plan aiming for an "internet of brains" to merge human cognitive abilities into a single thought complex. Musk sees this "Humanity 2.0" as a counterbalance to increasingly intelligent artificial intelligence.
Andreas Dripke explains: "Elon Musk published a master plan for each segment. But these plans were so bold that no one took them seriously. He cites the first Tesla master plan, which Musk published in a blog in 2006. "The established car industry could have read what was coming. But they ignored it until it was too late," Dripke says. In his new book, Masterplan: Elon Musk Unstoppable – How the Mastermind is Transforming Our World, he not only presents these individual plans but also reveals the "grand master plan" that shows how it all fits together.
Grand Masterplan for World Domination
To achieve "world domination," Elon Musk needs more than just leadership in key technology sectors – he requires influence in global politics. Since the fall of 2024, his "Grand Masterplan" has positioned him not only as an innovative entrepreneur and astute businessman but also as a significant political figure. In one bold move, Musk has propelled himself into the upper echelons of the US government. "However, his real political test is yet to come," Dripke analyzes. "As Co-Chief of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, Musk must prove he can effectively reduce bureaucracy." Dripke continues, "If he can achieve this as disruptively and successfully as he has with his companies, it could pave the way for even greater political involvement. That is, of course, assuming he doesn't clash with President Donald Trump along the way – a possibility, though currently unlikely."
The USA is Not Enough
The USA alone is not enough for Elon Musk. He has now openly involved himself in politics in Brazil, the UK, Italy, Spain, and recently Germany. "More countries will follow," predicts Andreas Dripke. Managing multiple projects simultaneously is nothing new for Musk in his corporate empire. Dripke notes, "There’s no one else who leads a car manufacturer, a space company, a social network, and an AI provider, while also almost effortlessly launching new generations of robots and brain chips. A few more countries don’t matter to Musk, as long as they align with his plan, both now and in the future."
The author illustrates Musk's far-sighted planning with a key example: "When Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, many considered it vastly overpriced, and numerous critics predicted it would mark the end of both Twitter and Musk's successful run. But by the fall of 2024, it became clear to most critics that Musk's true motive for rebranding Twitter as X was driven by his political ambitions. And this is just the beginning: Musk is set to transform X into a super-app, targeting key segments of our digital society. X-Mail, X-Streaming, X-TV, and X-Money are likely next on Musk’s agenda." Dripke also believes that X will play a role in supporting cryptocurrencies.
Digital Economic Battle Between the EU and Trump/Musk
Whether the European Union can permanently resist the Trump/Musk duo in regulating digital services and platforms, Dripke considers doubtful. According to his research for the book, a phalanx of US tech companies has already formed behind the Trump administration to undermine strict EU regulations. The open access to the "crown jewels," i.e., the core software of US giants for competitors, including from China, is neither in the interest of the corporations nor the national security of the USA.
The book outlines a digital economic battle between the USA, led by Elon Musk, and the European Union, with Dripke believing the USA will ultimately prevail. He argues that Europe is overly reliant on US digital services. "The much-touted digital sovereignty of Europe has made little tangible progress," Dripke writes. He paints a stark picture of what would happen if services like Microsoft Office, Azure, Amazon Cloud, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, and X were no longer available in the EU. Dripke also highlights the shift by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the issue of "freedom of speech vs. state-organized fact-checking," aligning with Musk's stance on "censorship-free expression." This, he suggests, points to the future. "It is highly uncertain whether the EU Commission can win a direct confrontation with the Trump/Musk administration over digital services," Dripke concludes.
Regardless, Dripke predicts that 2025 will mark the next phase of Elon Musk’s rise to power: the integration of all his ventures. "As Musk begins to piece together the puzzle, his Grand Masterplan will become increasingly clear," Dripke writes. "Anyone who reads this book will already have insight into the plan," says Diplomatic Council Publishing. Dripke adds, "Elon Musk is set to make more headlines in 2025 than ever before. While some events are already predictable, others will surprise even the most informed insiders."