Elon Musk says his childhood was "excruciating" and that he was frequently beaten

But it wasn't an easy road for him to succeed.

Ashlee Vance, a technology reporter for Bloomberg, has just published a book titled "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" which is chock full of stories about companies like SpaceX, PayPal, Tesla Motors, and others.

She also discusses Musk's upbringing, which the New York Times calls "excruciating," and demonstrates how tenacious Musk is in doing so.

Musk, who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, was an awkward and "bookish" young child who loved computers and science fiction. According to the Washington Post, Musk's father was emotionally abusive and strict with his kids, telling Musk and his brother to "sit silently for four hours as he scolded them."

Musk endured tremendous bullying at school as well. He was shoved down concrete stairs by his classmates. He was once beaten so severely that he had to go to the hospital.

Here is Musk's description of that terrible event:

"They lured me out of hiding with the help of my best [expletive] friend so they could beat me up. And it ached like a [expletive]. They made the decision that I was it for whatever reason, and they were going to pursue me endlessly. Because of this, growing up was challenging. There was no relief for many years. At school, I was hounded about by gangs that tried to beat the [expletive] out of me, and when I got home, it was even worse.

After struggling at home and at school, Musk ultimately decided to move to the US from South Africa.