Jung’s archetypes in Elon Musk’s life: a psychobiographical perspective

Elon Musk has become a brand name for innovation, entrepreneurship and global business innovation. The lens chosen for this psychobiographical study is the theory of Carl Gustav Jung’s archetypes, which represents a universal theory that focuses on distinct aspects of a person’s life, influencing human behaviour on individual and collective levels. The author of this psychobiography explores selected aspects of the life and work of Elon Musk, methodologically founded on Alexander’s indicators of psychological salience and Jung’s archetypal theory. The findings show that Musk is strongly influenced by five of Jung’s archetypes, namely the explorer, the creator, the magician, the hero and the rebel. These five archetypes act together to support Musk’s leadership of his many successful companies. The archetypes discussed here were already visible in his childhood and teenage years and developed further across his lifespan. This article accordingly supports Jung’s idea that many of the very powerful and futuristic ideas in history are based on archetypal images. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations for future psychobiographies on Elon Musk, archetypal theory and beyond are provided.