For his new book, Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins interviewed a number of former Tesla employees who confirmed that CEO Elon Musk is prone to uncontrollable bouts of rage accompanied by insults and gratuitous layoffs. The head of the company himself denies his boorish behavior, calling it “honest feedback.” More details about what the American billionaire allowed himself.
The new documentary book journalist Wall Street Journal Tim Higgins «the Power the Play: Tesla , Elon Musk and of Bet of the Century» [Power Game: Tesla, Elon Musk and centuries rate] former employees of Tesla spoke about how Elon Musk has created an atmosphere of fear in his company, and earned a bad reputation among employees, writes Business Insider.
The book mentions a large number of cases where Musk shouted, insulted and fired his employees. So, in 2006, on the eve of the first Tesla Roadster presentation party, Musk fired marketing head Jessica Switzer, because he was unhappy with her decision to spend part of the budget on developing a strategy to promote the car.
According to the author of the book, Musk thought his name alone would be enough to spark interest in the product.
In 2010, Musk threatened to fire a team of bankers who were specially hired to help him get Tesla shares public.
“I don’t have time for this. I have to fire the damn rocket! ” Musk shouted at that moment, according to sources.
According to Higgins, Musk’s fits of rage forced several top executives to leave the company, including Model S chief development officer Peter Rawlinson.
The book claims that before firing Rawlinson, Musk poked a finger in his chest and shouted, “I don’t believe you!”
Musk then pressured Model S deputy head of development Nick Sampson to bring Rawlinson back to the company. When Sampson was unable to do this, Musk fired him in a fit of rage.
Higgins points out that any employee whose opinion differed from that of the CEO could be immediately kicked out of the company.
For example, a Tesla paint shop manager was fired on the spot when he told Musk that his production targets were out of reach. Logistics manager Keith Pearson was fired for pointing out that it was not possible to meet the target of 100,000 vehicle deliveries during the quarter.
In 2016, Musk’s tantrums worsened greatly due to difficulties in developing the Tesla Model X. Former Tesla employees told Higgins that during this time Musk became even less restrained and more unpredictable. He began to shout at employees of all ranks and did so in public.
For example, Musk once convened a group of employees tasked with converting the Model 3 assembly line into a conference room to announce to them that “their job is complete crap.”
The book also notes that Tesla employees had to monitor Elon Musk’s personal life in order to predict his mood. According to them, when Musk is in a relationship with someone, he behaved much more pleasantly.
“If I am not in love, if I do not have a constant life partner, I cannot be happy. I will never be happy if I don’t have someone. The lonely night is killing me, ”Musk told Rolling Stone in 2017.
In an author’s note, Higgins writes that Musk was given the opportunity to view and comment on the manuscript.
“Most, but not all, of what you read in this book is nonsense,” said the main character of the book after reading.
Elon Musk is known to have claimed last month that his angry seizures were just honest and frank feedback that could be construed as a mockery.