Elon Musk’s SpaceX has fired several employees who were behind a letter criticizing the public behavior of the open billionaire, the aerospace firm said in a message to staff and confirmed by AFP on Friday, local time.
Key points:
- SpaceX says it conducted an investigation into the letter
- It was found that some employees were forced to sign the letter
- The letter accused Mr Musk of being “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment”.
A “small group” of employees solicited the signatures of their colleagues in a show of support for their letter and participation in a survey, SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell wrote in an email Thursday afternoon.
The mercurial billionaire routinely uses Twitter to provoke, talk directly to customers as well as followers, and sometimes offend with unfiltered or raw comments.
Ms Shotwell’s message said some workers felt “uncomfortable, intimidated and harassed and / or angry because the letter pressured them to sign something that did not reflect their views”.
“We have too much critical work to do and we don’t need that kind of excessive activism,” he added.
After conducting an investigation, the company “terminated a number of employees involved,” Ms. Shotwell, without specifying how many.
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The workers’ letter, first published on The Verge’s website, criticized Musk’s behavior in public, as well as recent allegations of sexual harassment against him, as “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us.”
“As our CEO and spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX; every tweet Elon sends is a de facto public statement from the company,” the letter added.
Musk, who also runs electric car maker Tesla, is in the middle of a $ 44 billion bid to buy Twitter that has caught the businessman’s attention even more.
AFP