‘Excessive activity’: SpaceX fires employees after criticism of Musk

‘excessive activity’
SpaceX is firing employees after criticism of Musk

06/17/2022, 1:20 pm

Anyone working for a company run by Elon Musk is at great risk if they criticize the company’s leader: At SpaceX, many employees are now being fired because they disagree with Musk’s continued provocations on Twitter.

According to a media report, the American space and communications company SpaceX has fired employees for criticizing the company’s president, Elon Musk. The New York Times reported that employees who wrote an open letter to Musk and helped distribute it have been fired, citing three people familiar with the matter and an internal email. It is unclear how many people are infected.

The New York Times quoted an email from Gwenny Shotwell, president of SpaceX, justifying the terminations: “The letter, the requests, and the process in general made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated, harassed or annoyed because the letter pressured them to sign something that did not reflect their views.” There is a lot to do and the company “doesn’t need that kind of hyperactivity”.

Musk is the richest person in the world with a net worth of over $260 billion. The busy entrepreneur not only manages Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink, but now also wants to acquire Twitter for $44 billion.

The internal letter described Musk, who is known for his controversial statements, as a “regular source of distraction and embarrassment.” The authors of the letter argued: “As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX – every tweet Elon sends is a de facto public statement from the company.” They demanded that SpaceX distance itself from Musk.

Recently, the 50-year-old grabbed headlines with his criticism of the home office and dismissing allegations of sexual harassment. The latter caused internal turmoil in SpaceX.