I don't think it's fluff, it describes the man (in fairly unflattering light imo).

Of course there is nothing applicable to you, you are (likely) not an extreme person like Musk. I don't think the point of the article is to teach you "How you too can be successful, just like Musk", but to shed a light on extreme personality from someone who knew him well.

edit: although Vox's slug is how-to-be-successful, I still don't read that piece as "you too can be successful if you imitate what Elon does"