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Across the five companies he runs and even in his brief foray into government with the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk has a well-earned reputation for being a demanding boss. While this trait has helped him build a business empire that spans multiple industries and amass vast personal wealth, it seems that many of those working for him have had enough.
In a detailed report based on conversations with more than a dozen current and former Musk employees, the Financial Times highlighted the massive turnover that has been taking place among the top ranks across all of Musk’s companies.
According to the Forbes Billionaires List, Musk is the wealthiest human on Earth, with a personal fortune of nearly $500 billion. However, the same drive and intense focus that led him to that level of financial success can also make him very challenging to work for.
Add in Musk’s increasingly controversial political stances, and many employees, both relatively new hires and long-term workers, have decided to take their talents elsewhere.
“The one constant in Elon’s world is how quickly he burns through deputies,” an anonymous Musk advisor told FT. “Even the board jokes, there’s time and then there’s ‘Tesla time.’ It’s a 24/7 campaign-style work ethos. Not everyone is cut out for that.”
Mike Liberatore, who served as chief financial officer for Musk’s AI startup xAI for only three months before leaving for rival OpenAI, explained the expectations on LinkedIn.
“102 days – 7 days per week in the office; 120+ hours per week,” Liberatore posted on the business-networking site, per FT.
For some top-level employees at Musk’s companies, this lack of work-life balance appeared to have been the primary reason for their departures.
“I love my two toddlers and I don’t get to see them enough,” said Robert Keele, xAI’s former general counsel, who departed in August after just 16 months at the Musk-run company, according to FT.
For others, Musk’s political and social views drove their desire to leave. Some of the current and former employees who spoke to FT expressed unease about Musk’s support of far-right elements in the U.S. and Europe, as well as his controversial social views. Many of these employees said they dreaded conversations with family and friends regarding Musk’s politics.
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“I love Tesla and my time there,” said an anonymous former employee who spoke to FT. “But nobody that I know there isn’t thinking about politics. Who the hell wants to put up with it? I get calls at least once a week. My advice is, if your moral compass is saying you need to leave, that isn’t going to go away.”
At Tesla in particular, some recent departures, including of long-term employees, appeared to have been motivated by the company’s recent shift away from its initial focus on electric vehicles and toward its AI-powered Optimus robot and autonomous taxis.
However, despite this change in emphasis, among the high-profile recent departures were Milan Kovac, who ran the Optimus human robotics program, and Ashish Kumar, the Optimus AI team leader, per FT.
As the world’s richest person and someone who controls companies involved in industries ranging from electric vehicles to social media to rockets to satellite internet to AI, Musk is hugely influential, regardless of what one thinks of him or his politics. However, as the race for top talent has heated up, particularly in the cutthroat AI race, Musk’s reputation has appeared to present more of a challenge than a benefit.
Additionally, as Tesla has pivoted away from EVs toward a focus on robotics and AI, many who joined the company — or purchased its cars — believing in the company’s mission to reduce planet-heating pollution have been left disillusioned.
The good news for EV buyers is that there are many more companies selling EVs and many more models available than when Musk released the first Tesla in 2008. While Tesla remains the EV market leader in the U.S., automakers like General Motors and Hyundai have been gaining ground quickly, according to recent sales figures from Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book.
This has been good news for EV buyers and the environment, as the hole left by Tesla’s pivot away from electric vehicles will likely be filled by other competitors.
Given his wide-ranging power, wealth, and influence, Musk has appeared unlikely to change course any time soon. However, thanks to the growth of the EV market, as well as competing products in AI, social media, and internet access, consumers — and employees — have the choice of turning elsewhere.
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