Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Elon Musk taught himself computer programming as a child and made his first software sale at 12. He moved to Canada and later the United States while pursuing studies in physics and business. Musk sold his first two companies at a substantial profit and earned cash to establish SpaceX in 2002. A year later, he co-founded Tesla Motors, and the rest is history.Elon Musk built his business empire with creative technologies and innovation that have impacted the world. He began 2020 with a net worth of $28 billion, skyrocketing to $170 billion in December. Today, he has a $191.2 billion fortune, making him the richest man in the world. Along with being a dreamer, Musk is also a persistent leader known for his quirks and management style. Let’s look at what it’s like to work with and for Elon Musk.
10 He Is Intimidating, But Easy To Talk To
An ex-territory manager of Tesla once went on a podcast and detailed his encounters. In 2009, he interviewed for the position after being recruited on LinkedIn, and Musk was one of his interviewers. The ex-employee called Musk smart, knowledgeable, and easy to converse with during the process. Musk also quizzed him on his knowledge before recruiting the person.
9 He Takes Social Media Into Consideration While Making Decisions
The world is aware that Elon Musk prefers to interact on social media rather than in-person and even responds to questions and comments on Twitter. Musk sometimes changed a decision based on a customer response shared on social media. If there is a headline regarding a problem at a Tesla factory, he would instantly make it a priority before moving to the next issue in the news.
8 He Has High Standards For Everything
Elon Musk is known as a perfectionist for his strive to create innovation in his services. Sometimes, Musk is known to be impulsive, and sometimes it adds to additional expenses, but he gets the job done. The billionaire also is quick to ask someone to start over a project if he is unsatisfied.
7 He Does Not Allow Enough Autonomy
A former senior management employee claimed that only one person makes decisions at Tesla, and it’s Elon Musk. The senior leadership positions have to follow often Musk’s vision with no autonomy provided to them. Tesla entirely works on Musk’s guidelines rather than a variety of suggestions from others.
6 He Has Mild Temper Issues
Musk is known to have explosive episodes at the workplace with employees and top executives. One of his infamous spats occurred with the development leader of Model S, Peter Rawlinson. Musk towered, screamed over the employee, and jabbed a finger at his chest. Rawlinson later quit the job and started his company Lucid Motors.
5 He Had Strict Guidelines During The Lockdown
While the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Musk kept his Tesla plant open in March 2022. After relentless pressure from the government, he shut down the plant but opened it shortly in May. He also warned employees that they wouldn’t get paid if they worked from home. When health officials raised their concerns, he threatened to move the plant from California to Texas, which he eventually did.
4 He Maintains Close Personal Relationships With His Employees
Executives are often urged to maintain their distance from creating any relationships with employees, but Elon Musk did fraternize with one. Musk secretly had twins with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis. She continues to run the operations and special projects at Musk’s brain implant company.
3 He Tends To Sleep In The Office Sometimes
After the tumultuous takeover of Twitter, employees were seen sleeping at the Twitter HQ, including the Director of Project Management Esther Crawford. Musk has shown his support for the pattern as he is also known to sleep at his desk. An ex-Tesla employee once found Musk sleeping in his office and took a picture but deleted it for fear of getting fired.
2 He Turns A Deaf Ear To Sensitive Complaints
Elon Musk has come under fire after releasing various tell-all book publications and claims from ex-employees that he often ignores the racism and sexism issues at his offices. An ex-SpaceX engineer claimed that many men made sexual advances at her, and one of them touched her inappropriately. Despite making several complaints, the man continued working at the office, and nobody followed up on the serious claim.
1 He Is Never Satisfied With Himself
A former Head of Talent Acquisition at SpaceX claimed that working with Elon Musk was an uncomfortable experience because he was never satisfied with his work. She said this led to him being unsatisfied with the people around him. Musk pushes himself harder and expects everyone to do the same.
Working with Elon Musk counts for an unforgettable experience as countless ex-employees share the details of their interactions with him. While working with him can be excruciating, with long hours sacrificed to work rather than fun, the employees have also claimed that they experience immense growth working with Elon Musk.