SpaceX, the private rocket company, on Thursday fired employees who helped write and distribute an open letter criticizing the behavior of CEO Elon Musk, three employees with knowledge of the situation said.
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Some SpaceX employees began circulating the letter, which criticized Mr. Musk’s Twitter activity, on Wednesday. The letter called the billionaire’s public behavior and tweets “a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment” and asked the company to rein him in. Mr. Musk is currently closing a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter.
By Thursday afternoon, SpaceX had fired some of the employees involved in the letter, according to the three employees and an email from Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and CEO. In her email, obtained by The New York Times, she said the company had investigated and “fired certain employees involved” with the letter.
It was unclear how many employees were laid off. James Gleeson, a SpaceX spokesman, did not respond to a request for comment.
The open letter followed recently published allegations of sexual harassment against Mr. Musk amid the controversial acquisition of Twitter. On Thursday, Mr. Musk addressed Twitter for the first time since his takeover bid via video call to answer their questions.
In May, Insider reported that a flight attendant said Mr. Musk offered her a sexual massage during a flight to London in 2016. Mr. Musk called the allegations “completely untrue.” Last month, Ms. Shotwell said in an email to SpaceX employees that she “personally” believed the sexual harassment allegations against Mr. Musk were false.
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Mr. Musk, who has previously been sued by government regulators and individuals over his tweets, founded SpaceX in 2002. Ms. Shotwell joined the same year. Mr. Musk is also the chief executive of Tesla, the electric carmaker.
At SpaceX, Mr. Musk is rarely challenged by his own employees, said the three employees, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Earlier this month, he notified the employees via email that they must spend at least 40 hours in the office or be fired.
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The open letter about Mr. Musk's online activity asked SpaceX leaders to "publicly address and condemn Elon's harmful behavior on Twitter" and "to define and respond uniformly to all forms of unacceptable behavior."
Source of information: nytimes.com
