Martin Eberhard said he wasn’t into “random firing”. Chris Weeks/WireImage via Getty
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Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard said the automaker’s corporate culture could have been “nicer” if he had stayed.
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Eberhard was removed as CEO in 2007 and has not been involved with the company since.
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He said he’s not into “random fires,” a practice Musk has denied in the past.
Martin Eberhard, one of Tesla’s original founders, said the carmaker would look different today if it were still at the top — specifically, there would be fewer “indiscriminate layoffs.”
“I believe in treating employees with respect, and I’m not into arbitrary layoffs and things like that,” Eberhard said in an interview with Insider. “Perhaps the culture in the company would have been a little nicer.”
Eberhard resigned as CEO of Tesla in 2007, about three years after Elon Musk began investing in the electric carmaker. Eberhard previously told Insider that Musk and Tesla’s board of directors met behind his back and voted to replace him as CEO.
Musk said Eberhard’s departure is related to delays in Tesla Roadster production and other operational issues.
Musk became Tesla’s CEO in 2008 and has become virtually synonymous with the brand’s image in recent years. Today, the Tesla story revolves around Musk’s lofty production goals, his “hardcore” work edicts, and tales of the billionaire sleeping on the factory floor.
Eberhard said that Tesla had a similar work ethic when he was CEO, but that he had different methods of driving employees.
“I’ve tried to keep the company motivated by keeping it on a mission to recognize that what we’re doing really matters to the world,” Eberhard said. “And that motivated people to put in many, many hard hours, but not out of fear, but out of that sense of accomplishment and responsibility.”
The Tesla co-founder said he had to fire people “from time to time,” but he “hated it.”
By referring to “indiscriminate layoffs,” Eberhard appeared to be alluding to reports that Musk can be prone to temper tantrums, and even instances of employee temper tantrums — allegations Musk has adamantly denied by calling them “wrong” on Twitter and said he gives “clear and candid” feedback to employees.
In 2017, a survey of workers included comments that Musk was an “aloof bully” who fires people “because of his ego.” The survey identified “Elon and the leadership team” as high-risk areas for the company.
Meanwhile, Musk has criticized Eberhard’s leadership skills in the past.
“He came damn close to killing Tesla through a combination of poor management decisions, displacement of talented people, poor engineering, major supply chain failures, and an elaborate deception about the true cost and timeline of the Tesla Roadster,” Musk wrote on Twitter in 2021.
Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Emails from insiders to Tesla’s press office asking for comment went unanswered.
Read the full insider interview with Martin Eberhard.
Do you work for Tesla or do you have an insight? Contact the reporter via email at [email protected] or via Twitter DM @graceihle. Contact us from a personal device.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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