Author of Steve Jobs biography to pen book on Elon Musk

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk will be subject of a biography by Walter Isaacson, the US author who penned a best-selling tome on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

"If you're curious about Tesla, SpaceX & my general goings on, @WalterIsaacson is writing a biography," Musk tweeted late on Wednesday.

In response to a question on social media, Musk said Isaacson had already shadowed him for several days to gather material for the book.

Isaacson compared Musk to Jobs in a Yahoo Finance interview a few months ago, saying "in some ways, he's the Steve Jobs of our time".

Isaacson is also the author of books on Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, the latter of which was made into a TV series called Genius.

Musk previously gave interviews for a biography by Ashlee Vance that was published in 2015, before Tesla became the most valuable car company in the world before SpaceX became the first private company to send humans into orbit.

In another reply to a Twitter user who asked whether the book deal meant Musk would no longer write his own book, Musk replied: "Maybe one day."

"At long last ... someone will penetrate the silent, mysterious, unknowable façade that particular subject projects ... ;)," another user tweeted, to which Musk replied with a laughing emoji.