A look at Tesla from the inside: how Elon Musk keeps all subordinates at bay

Many people dream of working for Elon Musk, everyone thinks that he is a cheerful and carefree leader. But without a bit of rigor, it is impossible to create super popular companies. The more popular the company became, the more often its leader became angry: he left meetings, fired employees and managers. Details of Max's behavior behind closed doors told the publication VC.RU.

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"I have no time for this now - I have to launch the damned rocket!" - said at one of the meetings in 2010, Elon Musk, after which he left and threatened to fire the Morgan Stanley bankers. They helped the company with the IPO and wanted to discuss the advertising of the event with the CEO.

This and many other disruptions to Musk were told by journalist Tim Higgins in his new book on the development and corporate culture of Tesla - Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and Bet of the Century.

Over the 18 years of its existence, Tesla has grown from an upstart into the most expensive automaker in the world. And Musk earned a reputation within the company as a hot-tempered CEO who “out of spite” fired everyone - from factory workers to top managers - if they threatened Tesla's growth.

Prior to each weekly meeting, senior management jokingly wondered who Musk would "gobble up" this time.

Spends money on advertising - get fired

In 2006, on the eve of the presentation of his first Tesla Roadster sports car, Musk ended his partnership with the PR firm and fired marketing chief Jessica Switzer, because she was spending the company's budget on advertising.

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Musk believed that his name alone would be enough to fuel interest in the car. And, as practice shows, I was not very wrong.

After that, he threatened to fire the new PR manager, this time because of an article in The New York Times. It talked about Tesla, but Musk's name was not mentioned.

“For me, such an article is offensive and shameful, so keep in mind: next time such a publication will be followed by immediate dismissal,” the entrepreneur said then.

Doesn't work - fire

In 2010, the company worked on the first mass production of the Model S sedan, led by engineer Peter Rawlinson. In the process, Musk became increasingly disillusioned with his employee.

"I do not trust you!" Musk shouted at Rawlinson during one of the discussions, jabbing a finger in his chest.

Due to frequent conflicts with the CEO, Rawlinson resigned and later founded his own electric car company, Lucid Motors.

Musk asked Tesla CFO Deepak Ahuja and Nick Sampson, Rawlinson's deputy, to return the engineer. However, Rawlinson refused, after which the CEO fired Sampson.

Sometimes employees annoyed Musk for no good reason, Higgins writes. For example, the question of what the Suspension Model S should be - like a BMW sports car or a "quiet" Lexus car.

“My goal is to sell a shitload of cars. So, with the suspension they will be taken with, they need to be released with that!” said Elon Musk, according to the author of the book.

He also dismissed the manager who could not show independence and make a decision without his participation. This happened when the company faced difficulties in developing windows for the Model X.

Then a possible solution to Musk was offered by an ordinary engineer, and not by the head of development. “Your employee found a way out, and you don't even know about it - this is completely unacceptable,” Musk told the boss, after which he fired him.

The author writes that since 2016, Musk began to increasingly break down on employees, and not only behind closed doors, but also in public.

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A possible reason for this is work on a more affordable Model 3 sedan, the release of which, according to the CEO, could determine the fate of the company.

Musk once criticized engineers who were instructed to set up the assembly line for the Model 3. One of them then quit on the spot.

“Your results are complete crap. Let everyone introduce themselves to me and tell me what exactly they did to make the damn conveyor work as it should,” Elon Musk allegedly told them.

Expresses an opinion undesirable to the director - dismiss

According to Higgins, Musk often fired employees who disagreed with his position - such as the paint shop manager and the head of the delivery department - both told the director that it was impossible to achieve the targets he had set.

Musk wanted to deliver 100 vehicles in a quarter.

The "distribution" included not only Tesla employees and executives, but also its potential partners - for example, dealerships. Once a representative of one of them suggested that Musk sell cars not directly to customers, but through retail.

According to Higgins, the entrepreneur immediately interrupted the meeting, threatened to spend a billion dollars to repeal the dealer franchise law, and demanded that the dealer be removed from the office.

What Elon Musk said about the book

Musk found it "untrue and boring" and has previously stated that he does not fire employees "out of spite" and always gives them detailed feedback.

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