SpaceX: SpaceX Fires Employees After Criticizing Elon Musk

The behavior of their boss, Elon Musk, is "a source of regular humiliation," SpaceX employees wrote. Now they have been fired – because of “exaggerated activism”.

The aerospace company SpaceX has fired several employees who had criticized the behavior of company boss Elon Musk in an open letter. A "small group" of employees tried to collect signatures from colleagues for the letter, SpaceX operations director Gwynne Shotwell wrote in an email to employees. The action caused some employees to feel uneasy.

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Several employees felt "uncomfortable, intimidated, bullied and/or annoyed" by their colleagues' behavior "because the letter put pressure on them to sign something that did not reflect their view," Shotwell wrote. "We have too much important work to do and we don't need this kind of over-the-top activism," she added.

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According to Shotwell, SpaceX launched an investigation into the case and "identified a number of employees involved". She did not give details of the exact number of employees.

"Source of Regular Shame"

The Verge website first reported on the letter . SpaceX employees criticized Musk's public appearance and also referred to recent allegations of abuse against the company boss.

Musk's behavior is "a source of regular distraction and embarrassment for us," the letter said. "As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX. Every tweet Elon makes is a de facto public statement from the company," the authors wrote.

Musk, who also heads the electric car group Tesla, is extremely active on Twitter and repeatedly uses the platform for provocations. In recent weeks, he has poked fun at the looks of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates via Twitter, posting a poop emoji during an online discussion with Twitter boss Parag Agrawal.

The layoffs came Thursday — the same day Musk first contacted Twitter staff to discuss the proposed $44 billion deal to acquire the social media platform. Earlier, reports surfaced that Musk paid $250,000 to a flight attendant to avert a possible sexual harassment lawsuit against him. He denies the allegations. 

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