It’s a s**t show: Angry Tesla insiders blast under-pressure and erratic Elon Musk and say the company is in turmoil after his month of bizarre behavior
- Tesla employees claim Musk’s chaotic business practices are hurting company
- He sets unrealistic targets for production and new feature on a whim, they say
- When told what he wants isn’t practical, he doesn’t listen and doubles down
- Sales staff say targets were often changed so they missed their commissions
- Despite this, employees were still expected to feel sorry for Musk’s public woes
Elon Musk may appear in crisis to outsiders with his incendiary tweets and public meltdowns – but his staff say it’s even worse inside Tesla.
Employees said the under-pressure billionaire sets unrealistic goals on a whim and constantly shifts sales targets – all while expecting staff to feel sorry for him.
The company was described as being ‘in turmoil’ as Musk lurches from one self-inflicted drama to another and investors fret about Tesla’s future.
Employees said under-pressure Elon Musk sets unrealistic goals on a whim and constantly shifts sales targets – all while expecting staff to feel sorry for him
‘Elon talks about being a socialist and doing good for mankind – unless you work for them. It’s a s**t show,’ one insider told the New York Post.
The enigmatic figure would often make far-fetched promises about upcoming features in Tesla’s cars, and refuse to walk it back when told they aren’t doable.
‘He’ll say ‘the car can do X, Y or Z’ and yes, that is possible – two decades from now. He bases his argument on the physically possible rather than the practical reality,’ one worker said.
Musk was even said to demand new functionality on his cars based on fans asking when they would be available, then tweet back a date regardless of practicality.
Sales staff were equally frustrated after leaving high-paying jobs for the promise of huge commissions at Tesla that have not materialized.
Musk gives tech blogger rare tour of Tesla’s production line – where only 14 per cent of Model 3s come off without needing significant fixes
Musk would often make far-fetched promises about upcoming features in Tesla’s cars, and refuse to walk it back when told they aren’t doable, staff said
A salesman who left a $150,000 job for one at Tesla with a $34,000 base salary said staff rarely get their commissions because the company changes the targets.
He described how a co-worker had a great year and was expecting a $42,000 commission, only to be told she missed the target and would only get $4,000.
There were persistent problems with the cars, too, as a Business Insider report revealed 4,300 of the 5,000 Model 3s made in June needed substantial fixes.
That meant only 14 per cent of the cars left the production line without needing fixes – compared to 80 per cent at most other companies.
The cars had ‘inconsistent gaps and flushness throughout the car, missing bolts, loose tolerances, and uneven and misaligned spot welds’, investors said.
‘The results confirm media reports of quality issues and are disappointing for a $49k car.’
Musk was even said to demand new functionality on his cars based on fans asking when they would be available, then tweet back a date regardless of practicality
Sales staff were equally frustrated after leaving high-paying jobs for the promise of huge commissions at Tesla that have not materialized
Staff told the Post many of the Model 3s came into the showroom scratched or damaged with mismatched panels that didn’t line up properly.
Then on Thursday a fire started at Tesla’s Freemont, California, factory which began in a cardboard pile and threatened buildings until it was put out.
‘I was just there. Cardboard being prepped for recycling along southern fence line caught fire. Super appreciate fast response by Fremont fire dept! No injuries or damage to factory,’ Musk tweeted.
Even with Tesla’s woes and Musk’s increasingly unhinged public persona, employees said they were still expected to treat him as a messianic figure
The ‘turmoil’ has resulted in, and been exacerbated by, an exodus of senior staff who were sick of how the company was being run.
Corporate treasurer and VP of finance Susan Repo left after five years, sales chief Jon McNeill defected to Lyft, and chief accounting officer Eric Branderiz quit for personal reasons – all in March.
The in July, chief engineer Doug Field and top sales executive Ganesh Srivats jumped ship.
Even with Tesla’s woes and Musk’s increasingly unhinged public persona, employees said they were still expected to treat him as a messianic figure.
Company sources described staff meetings reminiscent of an infamous meeting of President Donald Trump’s cabinet where they went around the table showering him with praise and thanking him for choosing them.
More recently, a salesperson said corporate ‘literally sent out a picture of the couch and blanket that he sleeps on’ at the Tesla factory.
‘They were selling it to us like his team pitched in to buy him a new couch. He’s a f**king billionaire. He can afford a couch,’ they said.
But despite widespread unrest, staff still want the company to succeed – if only so they still have jobs.
Musk walks next to a new Tesla sports car at a showroom in Menlo Park, California
‘Everyone realizes it’s f**ked up, but everyone’s afraid of losing their job before Tesla ‘hits it big’. It’s a mess,’ one said.
Employees also speculated that Musk’s incendiary tweets were, at least in part, meant to distract from any bad news at Tesla.
This could include his back-and-forth with Arianna Huffington after she suggested he have a healthier work-life balance, to which he replied that slowing down simply ‘isn’t an option’.
Huffington, who sits on the board of Uber, took to her Thrive Global website and posted an open letter to Musk in response to his interview in the New York Times in which he says he works 120-hours-a-week and that the pressures of Tesla have taken an incredible personal toll on him.
In a tweet at 2.32am, after arriving home from a late night at a Tesla factory, Musk told the Huffington Post founder that his electric car company and Ford are the only two American automakers that have avoided bankruptcy.
Arianna Huffington implored Elon Musk to slow down after he revealed he works 120-hour work weeks
He then added, in an apparent reference to his long hours at work: ‘You think this is an option. It is not.’
In his interview with the Times last week, he said of his push to finish production of the mass-market Model 3, ‘I thought the worst of it was over, I thought it was. But from a personal pain standpoint, the worst is yet to come.’
Huffington implored him in her post on Friday: ‘You can’t simply power through – that’s just not how our bodies and our brains work.’
‘You’ve had days-long stretches where you shut yourself inside the Tesla factory and don’t even go outside. You don’t take vacations.
‘There’s no way you can connect with your amazing vision and creativity when you don’t give yourself time to reconnect not just with those you love but also with yourself and your wisdom.’
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The Tesla head’s tweets have become increasingly worrisome over recent months. Two incidents in particular standout with the first being an attack on one of the two divers who rescused a stranded soccer team trapped in a cave, calling him a ‘pedo-guy’ or pedophile.
The most recent, however, saw Tesla stocks soar when he shared ‘Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,’ on August 7. The trading day closed with the company’s stock gaining 11 per cent.
That announcement on Twitter prompted lawsuits and reports of government scrutiny.
Funding was not secured: Musk tweeted this on August 7, which saw Tesla stock soar 11 per cent by end of the days trading but resulted in government scrutiny as to why he would tweet what would be major company news that was not accurate during a trading day
Musk conceded in his wide-ranging interview that he’s overwhelmed by job stress and sometimes takes Ambien to get to sleep.
Tesla has presented plenty of challenges for Musk. The company routinely loses money and is burning through cash as it ramps up development of its Model 3 sedan, a less-expensive electric car it hopes appeals to the mass market.
A large number of investors known as short-sellers have bet against the company.
Musk has added to those pressures with lofty projections for profits and production that the automaker often fails live up to. Plus, the eccentric billionaire is the head of at least two other companies, including the rocket company SpaceX.
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