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Topics: News, Technology, Elon Musk, SpaceX
Lisa McLoughlin
SpaceX employees have reportedly criticised CEO Elon Musk's online 'behaviour' in an open letter intended for the company’s president Gwynne Shotwell.
According to new reports, staff at the spacecraft company have allegedly discussed the drafted letter openly in their internal chat system and claimed Musk’s online antics are a 'frequent source of embarrassment' for employees.
The letter, which has been viewed by The Verge, reads: "Elon’s behaviour in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, particularly in recent weeks.
"As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX – every Tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.
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"It is critical to make clear to our teams and to our potential talent pool that his messaging does not reflect our work, our mission, or our values."
Not only that, but the letter claims Musk’s social media posts on Twitter are negatively impacting the company’s reputation, and in turn, SpaceX’s employees.
The news outlet also reported that staff from 'across the spectra of gender, ethnicity, seniority, and technical roles have collaborated on' writing the letter and are encouraging other employees to sign it either anonymously or by identifying themselves.
However, it is unclear who the authors of the letter are. The Verge reported that they contacted the employees who shared the original document in the internal chat system, but they haven’t responded to requests for comment.
UNILAD has contacted SpaceX for comment.
The billionaire is no stranger to controversy, having engaged in several public feuds with high-profile individuals so far this year.
The Tesla CEO blasted fellow billionaire Bill Gates in April, tweeting a photo of the Microsoft founder next to a pregnant man emoji with the caption, 'in case u need to lose a boner fast'.
Musk also branded US President Joe Biden 'a damp sock puppet in human form' online for not inviting to him to the White House for a meeting of business leaders in January.
According to The Verge, these public feuds prompted the drafted letter to get posted within the internal SpaceX Microsoft Teams channel, which includes more than 2,600 employees, and claimed his behaviour online goes against the company’s own stated policy of 'No Asshole'.
The letter is said to offer three areas where the company could improve in light of Musk’s social media outbursts.
These include, the company 'publicly address[ing] and condemn[ing] Elon’s harmful Twitter behaviour', holding 'all leadership equally accountable' for behaviour that breaks with the stated policies, to clearly define what 'is intended by SpaceX’s ‘no-asshole’ and ‘zero tolerance’ policies'.'
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