How It Happened

How It Happened: Elon Musk vs. Twitter Part II: Empire of Risk explores how Musk's philosophy on risk brings people far beyond his consumers and employees into the experiments he runs.

• Axios reporters Joann Muller and Miriam Kramer draw on years of reporting on Tesla and SpaceX respectively to detail how risk fits into Musk's framework at these companies.


• The episode also features interviews with people who have known Musk for years, who have watched him across his career.


• The episode explores how Musk's risk tolerance has allowed him to innovate in ways no one else has — and the costs that come with that.

Credits: This series was reported by the Axios newsroom including Erica Pandey, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Dan Primack, Miriam Kramer, Joann Muller, Javier E. David, Jonathan Swan, Sara Fischer, Ina Fried and Hope King. Fact-checking by Jacob Knutson. Erica Pandey hosts. Amy Pedulla is reporter-producer. Naomi Shavin is senior producer. Scott Rosenberg and Alison Snyder are the series editors. Sara Kehaulani Goo is the Editor-in-Chief and executive producer. Mixing and sound design by Ben O'Brien. Music supervision by Alex Sugiura. Theme music and original score by Michael Hanf. Special thanks to Axios co-founders Mike Allen, Jim VandeHei and Roy Schwartz. Thanks to Zach Basu, Lucia Orejarena, Priyanka Vora, and Brian Westley.