The Space Barons

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos

By: Christian Davenport

Narrated by: Will Collyer

A "pacy, smartly reported" (Financial Times) account of the historic quest to rekindle the human exploration and colonization of space led by two rival billionaires

The Space Barons is the story of a group of billionaire entrepreneurs who are pouring their fortunes into the epic resurrection of the American space program. Nearly a half-century after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, these Space Barons – Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, and Paul Allen – have founded some of the biggest brands in the world – Amazon, Microsoft, Virgin, Tesla, PayPal – and upended industry after industry. Now they are pursuing the biggest disruption of all: space.

Based on years of reporting and exclusive interviews with all four billionaires, this authoritative account is a dramatic tale of the birth of a new Space Age. Detailing the rivalry between hard-charging startups and established contractors, The Space Barons traces the personal clashes of the leaders of this new space movement, particularly Musk and Bezos, as they aim for the moon and Mars and beyond.

Critic reviews

"The Space Barons by Christian Davenport, a Washington Post reporter, is an exciting narrative filled with colorful reporting and sharp insights. The book sparkles because of Davenport's access to the main players and his talent for crisp storytelling."—Walter Isaacson, New York Times Book Review

"The Space Barons is a pacy, smartly reported book on the new generation of entrepreneurs who are transforming the business of space... [The] book fizzes with some wonderful human stories of imagination and endeavor but also provides a broad sweep of the current state of the space industry."—Financial Times

"Davenport displays his reporting and storytelling skills. His writing is tight and, suitably for the subject matter, propulsive. He fleshes out the main protagonists with fine character vignettes."—The Washington Post

"Highly accessible... Davenport's access to key players, from the companies' founders to its employees, lends authority to his account."—Scientific Inquirer

"Important and revealing."—The Weekly Standard

"The Space Barons is fastidious and engrossing."—The Spectator

"Entertaining, skillfully narrated book."—The Week

"In The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos, Christian Davenport tells the backstories of the billionaires who are vying for control of the emerging NewSpace industry."—The New Yorker

"Christian Davenport has written a terrific book on the new space entrepreneurs."—Newt Gingrich

"Topping my reading list for space fans this summer is The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos, Christian Davenport's fine new book on competition in the New Space world."—Forbes.com

"In The Space Barons, Davenport lays out a compelling narrative of how Musk (SpaceX, Tesla), Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin, Amazon), Richard Branson (Virgin) and Paul Allen (Microsoft) all dreamed at an early age of the prospects of commercial space travel...Through compelling storytelling... [and] impressive research and extensive interviews."—Winnipeg Free Press

"In prose more than worthy of a staff writer at the Washington Post, Davenport glides effortlessly between biographical vignettes, engineering and financial challenges in building spacecraft, government obstacles to private space exploration, project failures and triumphs, and rivalry as 'the best rocket fuel.'"—Seeking Alpha

Very good overview

If you’ve read other books on Bezos or Elon, some of this content will be repetitive. Overall - very good, quick read.

great outline

A great outline of the current private space race and the conversion of space to private sector access. Don't expect any future predictions but there is enough there for you to form your own.

Amazing!

This book is a great choice for anyone interested in knowing more about the development and success of two awesome companies (space x and Blue Origin) that have pushed the foundation for space travel!

The info about the new Space Race

If you want to learn more about the current space race, this is the book to read!

I'm a Space Nut... And I LOVED It!

I've been fascinated by space travel since I was a kid--I went to Space Camp in Huntsville twice. One time our team won "Best Mission" and I'm proud to say I was Commander of that mission.

Unfortunately, to date that highlight of my space career was when I was 13 years old. "The Space Barons" reignited that childhood spark and wonder for what space travel can ultimately be, while providing some insight into the modern-day commercial space race that's shaping up... its huge upside... and the very real risks that come with it.

It's tough to humanize billionaires, but Davenport does it with ease. Sometimes unintentionally, when Jeff Bezos makes a very (ahem) in retrospect hilarious comment about his "really big rocket" he's working on... but I digress...

Really great book and well-performed for any space nut!