A Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) engineer has slammed CEO Elon Musk's leadership at the EV giant, alleging that Musk has lied to the public and manipulated public discourse, among other things.
Elon Musk's Leadership Seems ‘Seriously Compromised'
Giorgio Balestrieri, an engineer who worked at Tesla with the company's Autobidder — a real-time trading and control platform to manage the company's energy storage assets — for over eight years, shared his thoughts in a career update post on the social media platform LinkedIn on Thursday.
Acknowledging his time at Tesla, Balestrieri thanked his colleagues and talked at length about his experiences before sharing why he left the company.
"I do need to address the elephant in the room: the main reason I'm leaving is that I think Elon has dealt huge damage to Tesla's mission," he said, adding that Musk had damaged the health of several democratic institutions in other countries.
"Elon's leadership and decision making seem seriously compromised," Balestrieri said and outlined that his decision wasn't just about Musk's political activities, but also "about lying to the public, manipulating public discourse, targeting minorities and supporting climate change deniers and political forces aligned with the oil and gas industry," he said.
He also said that the Trump administration was stalling the energy transition in the U.S. and that speed was critical to "avert the worst consequences of climate change."
Source: Giorgio Balestrieri via LinkedIn
Elon Musk's Pay Package, White House Event Snub
The news comes after Tesla unveiled a new CEO compensation package for Musk, through which Musk could become the first trillionaire ever, but the package also outlines several conditions and milestones Tesla would need to achieve.
Musk's package has been criticized by prominent figures, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), who said that the compensation award was "grossly immoral" and reiterated worker rights.
Musk was also reportedly snubbed from a White House event, which included many prominent tech CEOs and business leaders in the U.S. Musk had said that he was invited, but he couldn't make it to the event.
The billionaire's reported snub could raise questions about his relationship with the Trump camp following a series of anti-EV decisions taken by the government. Musk had donated more than $250 million to Trump in the run-up to last year's presidential election.
Trump's EPA Changes, Relaxing CAFE Norms
President Donald Trump's EPA had proposed rescinding the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which forms the legal basis of much of the U.S.'s climate action and emissions norms.
The administration also relaxed Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards that dictate the amount of distance a vehicle must cover on a gallon of fuel in the U.S. and maintain emissions standards. Relaxing the norms would take legal pressure off automakers to adhere to the standards.
The Government Is Unfixable, Says Musk
Speaking at a recent event, Musk was asked to reflect upon his time in the country's capital with the DOGE or Department of Government Efficiency and if he'd learned something, to which he responded that the government was "unfixable."
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