Elon Musk is known for his relentless and demanding work ethic, which has led him to achieve remarkable feats in the fields of space exploration, electric vehicles, and neural technology. But his high expectations and pressure can also take a toll on his employees, as revealed by a new biography by Walter Isaacson.
The engineer who drove back to the hangar after drinking wine
One of the stories that Isaacson recounts in his book is about Kiko Dontchev, an engineer who worked on the Falcon 9 rocket at SpaceX. Dontchev had just returned home to his wife after working three days straight, when he received a call from Musk. The CEO wanted him back at the hangar immediately, without explaining why.
Dontchev had already started on a bottle of wine, but he felt that he had no choice but to obey Musk’s order. He told Isaacson: “I worried about getting pulled over for drunk driving, but that seemed less of a risk than ignoring Elon.” He drove back to the hangar, where he found out that Musk wanted him to fix a minor issue with a valve.
The financial analyst who lost his first child and faced Musk’s wrath
Another former employee who shared his experience with Isaacson was Lucas Hughes, who started as a financial analyst at SpaceX in August 2021. Hughes had recently lost his first child when he was called into a meeting with Musk. The CEO asked him about the component costs of a new engine part, but Hughes did not have all the information at hand.
Musk scolded him in an emotionless monotone: “You better be fucking sure in the future you know these things off the top of your head,” Isaacson writes. “If you don’t improve, your resignation will be accepted.” Hughes and his team managed to come up with a roadmap to reduce the engine costs from $2 million to $200,000 in 12 months, but he left SpaceX in May 2022.
The lesson that even senior employees had to learn
Isaacson’s biography also reveals how even senior employees at SpaceX had to learn to cope with Musk’s “demon mode”. Tom Mueller, who was the chief propulsion officer and one of the co-founders of SpaceX, told Isaacson that he learned never to disagree with Musk in public, or else he would face his fury.
Mueller also said that Musk had a tendency to micromanage and interfere with the technical details, even though he was not an expert in rocket science. He recalled one incident where Musk insisted on changing the design of a valve, which caused a delay and a failure in a test launch. Mueller said that Musk eventually admitted his mistake and apologized, but it was rare for him to do so.
The impact of Musk’s management style on his companies
Isaacson writes that Musk’s management style allows him to “move faster, take more risks, break rules, and question requirements”. He credits this approach for enabling Musk to achieve impressive accomplishments, such as sending humans into space and orbit and building the world’s most successful EV maker.
But he also acknowledges that Musk’s “demon mode” has consequences for his employees, who often feel stressed, burned out, and replaceable. He quotes one former employee who said: “You definitely realize that you’re a tool being used to achieve this larger objective and that’s great. But sometimes, tools get worn down and [Musk] feels he can just replace that tool.”
