Tesla has fired a manager for opposing a social media post by CEO Elon Musk, who mentioned Nazi leaders. This was the latest example of public criticism of the boss being unacceptable in the Musk Business Empire.
Jared Ottoman, a manager and engineer who worked with Tesla's battery supplier, said he was fired for criticizing Musk for X's posts using Nazi names like Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goering.
“Stop stopping your enemies,” Musk wrote on January 23, adding: He split the post with a laughing emoji.
On LinkedIn late January, Ottoman said Musk had angered him by calling the Nazis, the head of genocide, a “joking” person.
“We've raised relationships with managers, HRs, legal compliance and investors over and over again in 2022, especially since last week,” Ottoman wrote. “And while overwhelmingly people provide personal support, Tesla as a company remains silent.”
Tesla did not reply to requests for comment.
Musk's company, including SpaceX and X, has a history of punishing objections. In 2022, SpaceX, which makes Rockets, fired nine employees for asking the company to distance themselves from Musk's social media comments. Several of these employees later filed unfair practice requests to the National Labor Relations Commission.
Ottoman's critical remarks and Tesla's response are the latest indications of the upheaval caused by Musk's right-wing politics. He supported the German far-right party, whose members were fined by the government for using Nazi slogans. Musk's role in the Trump administration as a leader in government efficiency has also made him a polarizing figure.
Signs of objection at Tesla are not quarantined by Mr. Ottoman. At a meeting at Tesla's office in Palo Alto, California last month, the employee vented his complaints about Musk's political activities, guided his manager and said he was also disappointed by the CEO's actions.
Ottoman confirmed he was fired Thursday. He further declined to comment and referred to Jana Moser, a lawyer in Santa Monica, California, to the question. Moser did not reply to requests for comment.
After SpaceX employees wrote on an internal message board this fall, Musk was fired for wanting to stop wearing the company's apparel while appearing on a campaign for Trump, someone familiar with the three cases said. For example, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in October, Musk wore an “Occupy Mars” t-shirt. This is sold by SpaceX in its company store.
Employees wrote that company apparel should not be worn at campaign events as it is not appropriate for workers to wear political clothing in their offices. A few days after his post, the company revoked its employees' access to internal systems, but revived the employees after determining that it was not violated by the company's policies.
The employee resigned a few weeks later. SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Musk also fired the worker for X, who criticized him. After calling Twitter in 2022 in the wake of his $44 billion acquisition of his company, several employees posted billionaire critiques on the platform. Musk discussed some of them online and was later fired.
The shooting is at odds with Musk's often stated goal of protecting freedom of speech. He offered to fund a lawsuit against an employer who fired workers for something he posted to X in 2024.
Investors at Tesla, the only publicly-owned company Musk runs, worry that his political activities have marginalized some buyers, spending time in Washington, and not enough time to fall behind in car sales. The company's shares fell approximately 40% from the high set on December 17th.
