Pete Syme
Mon, September 18, 2023
Elon Musk.Christian Marquard/Getty Images
Elon Musk once hung up on a Tesla worker who called from a burning factory, per the Daily Mail.
The historian Niall Ferguson recounted how he met with the billionaire for drinks when the video call came.
When the worker was unsure how important the fire was, Musk said: "Then don't bother me."
Elon Musk once hung up on a Tesla worker who video called him from inside a burning factory, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
The historian Niall Ferguson was writing for the outlet about his experiences meeting with Musk, comparing him to a modern-day Napoleon.
He included an anecdote where Musk and Ferguson met up for a drink in Menlo Park back in 2017.
Ferguson's 18-year-old son was about to travel to Africa and sought advice from the South Africa-born billionaire.
But the historian says Musk was "preoccupied," especially when a video call came through from one of his Tesla factories, which seemed to be on fire.
"Is it important?" Musk asked the worker, according to Ferguson.
And when the man in the apparently burning factory was unsure in his response, Musk snapped back: "Then don't bother me," and hung up.
In an X post responding to Ferguson's article, Musk did not deny the incident.
Although he did accuse Ferguson of embellishing the extent of his relationship with the billionaire, saying they had only met up six times over the past ten years. The article's headline describes Ferguson as a "friend and confidant" to Musk.
"The article misses the mark," Musk wrote on X.
Musk's impatience is also described in several episodes featured in Walter Isaacson's recent biography of the Tesla CEO.
One SpaceX engineer described being called back to work despite having drunk some wine, but they were fearful of facing Musk's wrath if they didn't show up. "I worried about getting pulled over for drunk driving, but that seemed less of a risk than ignoring Elon," he told Isaacson.
And last Christmas Eve, Musk spent the day moving servers at an X data center after threatening to fire an employee who said the job would take at least six months, rather than the 90 days he wanted.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
- Elon Musk mocked Ukraine's summer counteroffensive in a stinging post on X: 'So much death for so little'
Sun, September 17, 2023
Elon Musk.Chesnot via Getty Images
Elon Musk expressed his disappointment in Ukraine's summer counteroffensive in an X post on Sunday.
"So much death for so little," Musk wrote in his post.
The billionaire has been previously accused of pushing pro-Russian sentiments.
Elon Musk — who Ukrainian officials recently blasted for blocking an attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet — derided the success of Ukraine's summer counteroffensive on Sunday.
"So much death for so little," Musk wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
Musk was responding to venture capitalist David Sacks' thread on the topic.
Sacks first started the thread on June 19, arguing that the counteroffensive "is failing to achieve any of its originally stated objectives" of rolling back Russia's territorial gains and kickstarting peace negotiations.
Sacks has been updating his thread frequently with articles on the subject. The September 17 post Musk was responding to appeared to be a map of Ukraine, with the caption: "UPDATE: "Ukrainian territorial gains from their much-vaunted counteroffensive [highlighted in blue] are so miniscule they can barely be seen on a map."
Musk, for his part, has weighed in many times on the war in Ukraine.
In October 2022, Musk posted a peace plan proposal on X. This plan involved Ukraine recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and "remaining neutral" by not joining NATO.
Musk's idea drew widespread condemnation from Ukrainian officials at the time, with Ukrainian diplomat Andrii Melnyk telling the billionaire to "fuck off." Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the minister of internal affairs in Ukraine, said Musk's pro-Russia stance made it seem like the Russians had hacked his social media account.
Musk also effectively sabotaged a Ukrainian attack on Russia's navy vessels last year when he refused to turn on access to the SpaceX-run Starlink satellites, per an excerpt from the Walter Isaacson-penned biography about Musk.
Ukraine launched its counteroffensive on Russia in June, per the Council on Foreign Relations. War analyst Jan Kallberg at the Center for European Policy Analysis said last month that the counteroffensive was making incremental but "substantial progress."
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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