Elon Musk: American Oligarch

An unvarnished, critical graphic biography of the tech innovator and former presidential confidant by the author/illustrator of Putin's Russia: The Rise of a Dictator and Billionaires: The Lives of the Rich and Powerful.

Darryl Cunningham's new graphic biography of Elon Musk is a riveting deep-dive into the audacious mind and tumultuous journey of the world's richest man. Using his signature pictographic style--clean lines, vivid colors, and lean panel compositions--Cunningham peels back the layers of myth around Musk to deliver a timely portrait that is provocative and informative.

Spanning several generations, the book traces Musk's journey from his family roots in South Africa and his grandfather's role in the Technocracy Movement to his current position at the apex of tech power and far-right politics. From Musk's early education and influences, the creation of PayPal, and the meteoric rise of Tesla and SpaceX thanks to millions in government handouts, to his ascension as a "dark MAGA" influencer and kingmaker, Elon Musk: American Oligarch captures the tension, tumult, and chaos in which oligarchs thrive today.

Cunningham's award-winning clarity and style sparkle as he presents freewheeling financial and engineering concepts used by startups and tech companies. This fast-paced biography reveals the complex interactions of visionary ideas, relentless drive, and unyielding ambition. Elon Musk: American Oligarch offers a fresh, unvarnished look at Musk's rise, aggressive leadership style, and appetite for risk-taking that have propelled him into a unique position as an unelected private business owner with unprecedented access to political power.

Praise for Billionaires by Darryl Cunningham:

"Extensively researched. . . a good choice for students interested in economics and public policy." ―School Library Journal

Author: Darryl Cunningham
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 09/09/2025
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 8.98h x 6.50w x 0.54d
ISBN: 9781644215227


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2025
Publishers Weekly 08/04/2025
Foreword 08/25/2025

About the Author
Darryl Cunningham is the award-winning author of Supercrash: How to Hijack the Global Economy (a New York Times bestseller), Graphic Science; The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis; Putin's Russia: The Rise of a Dictator; and Billionaires, which won the Best Graphic Nonfiction category in the Broken Frontier Awards 2019. In 2015, he was one of 30 world-renowned photographers, painters, sculptors, writers, filmmakers, and musicians invited to contribute to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Art of Saving a Life project to promote vaccination in the developing world. In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts from Leeds Arts University. He lives in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom.