At work, Musk sometimes seemed almost giddy, occasionally interrupting meetings to insist that his colleagues watch clips of Monty Python episodes on his computer, according to several people. A particular favorite was a skit of aristocrats debating the virtues of words like antelope versus sausage. He would play it more than once, laughing uproariously each time, as his colleagues waited to return to the issues at hand.
More concerning to executives were Musks low periods, particularly in the wake of his split from Amber Heard. In the weeks after the first Model 3 handovers, Musk occasionally didnt show up for meetings, or they would be canceled at the last minute, former employees say. Colleagues say they would call him on his cell phone in the morning, to make sure he had started the day. Musk gave bizarre interviews: He described being in severe emotional pain to a writer from Rolling Stone and then asked for dating advice. I will never be happy without having someone, he said. Going to sleep alone kills me.
In the months after the handover party, Musk seemed angrier than before, according to multiple people. It started to feel like every day you expected to be fired, said one executive who says he had three supervisors in three days. There was this constant feeling of dread.
Some managers feared that by taking on more prominent roles they increased their risk of termination or public humiliation. One former executive described Musk shaming her in front of colleagues. He was shouting that I didnt know what I was doing, that I was an idiot, that hes never worked with someone so incompetent, she told me. In a company with so many male employees, as a woman it was particularly humiliating, she said. ... In May, Musk announced the companys latest earnings in a conference call. He made no effort at civility and no one held him back. When a Wall Street analyst asked Teslas chief financial officer about capital expenditures, Musk responded: Boring. Bonehead questions are not cool. Next? With the next question, he erupted again. These questions are so dry. Theyre killing me! and called upon a YouTube video blogger with an enormous enthusiasm for Tesla to ask questions for the next 20 minutes. (The companys stock price dropped more than 5 percent after the call.)
Come summer, news coverage of Tesla was lurching from disaster to disaster. For a long time, Elon would say or do something kind of wacky, and I would get up in front of my team and explain, this is why you shouldnt worry about it, said one executive who had been with Tesla for some years. But eventually it got to where I couldnt apologize anymore.
Rumors of Musks behavior made their way to potential hires. One story that numerous people recounted involved a candidate for a retail development position. When he came to his interview with Musk, he wore blue shoes. Musk turned to a colleague and said he didnt like the candidates shoes. The colleague explained the candidates qualifications. But Musk was unmoved; he rejected the candidate. (In a statement, a Tesla spokesperson said that Musk rejected the candidate because his experience wasnt right for Tesla, and the fact that Elon also mentioned in passing that he didnt like the candidates shoes had nothing at all to do with why he wasnt hired.)
The story, however, came to be seen as an example of Musks impulsiveness. After hearing about that, you stop recommending to friends they should apply, a former executive told me. You dont want to put friends through that.