SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has shown he
does not take criticism very well. So when employees of his rocket company called their boss’ behavior a “distraction and embarrassment”… well you can see where this is going.
The
New York Times first reported that SpaceX fired several employees who helped write an open letter that took Musk to task for his off-the-wall behavior online and in public. The firings apparently happened Thursday afternoon after
The Verge first broke the story about the employee’s letter that same day.
In an internal email obtained by the Times, Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and COO, wrote that the company had “terminated a number of employees involved” with staff’s critique of their CEO. She further said that the workers’ letter “made employees feel uncomfortable, intimidated, and bullied, and/or angry” since it apparently pressured them to sign something “that did not reflect their views.”
It isn’t clear how many were fired, but
Reuters reported there were at least five. Three employees spoke to the Times but did not reveal their names or positions. They said staff rarely stand up to the CEO. Another anonymous employee who helped write the letter called bull on Shotwell’s reasoning, telling The Verge they spent a month of hard work putting together the letter by soliciting feedback from fellow employees.
We reached out to SpaceX for comment, but the company rarely—if ever—responds to any press inquiries.