Investigation“Elon Musk, an American hero” (5/6). Angry, unfair, disloyal … The entrepreneur has the reputation of putting maximum pressure on his employees. For Musk, this is the price to pay for living an industrial epic that shapes the future of humanity.
Mary Beth Brown was Elon Musk’s right-hand man. “When you had a question, she had the answer: yes or no. And that was almost always what Elon thought ”, remembers James McLaury, former SpaceX engineer. And you should not venture to bypass it by asking Elon Musk directly for his opinion: it was exposing yourself to a flashback. Mary Beth Brown was devoted body and soul to her boss, whose dual agenda she managed at Tesla and SpaceX, to the point of spending her days and nights there. “Her mother bought her a dog, that gave her an excuse to go to her daughter’s house to take care of her”, tells James McLaury at World.
And then one day Mary Beth Brown left. At the beginning of 2014, after twelve years spent at the side of her boss, she had the misfortune to ask for a bonus and a raise in line with her growing responsibilities, while the Musk empire continued to grow. She was dismissed unceremoniously. “Elon said to him:” We are going to do an experiment, you are going to take a vacation and the month you come back, we will see how it went without you “says engineer Jim Cantrell, the one who had accompanied Musk to Russia to try to buy rockets there. On his return, he told her that he was firing her because it had gone well without her. “ And to declare, with a sigh, in French: “He’s stupid sometimes!” “ According to reports circulating internally, Mary Beth Brown had a dispute with Elon Musk’s wife, British actress Talulah Riley, who found that she had too strong a hold on her husband.
@businessinsider Mary Beth was an amazing assistant for over 10 yrs, but as company complexity grew, the role requi… https://t.co/vCjSfdLFKt
It doesn’t matter, basically: the epilogue of the story illustrates in the eyes of its detractors the ruthless brutality of Elon Musk, who had to explain it in August 2017 on Twitter: “Mary Beth has been an incredible assistant for over ten years, but as the complexity of the business increased, the role required multiple specialists versus a generalist. “
“Be part of the revolution”
Joining the companies of Elon Musk is the guarantee to put an end to his life. It is accepting to work tirelessly, more than eighty hours a week, with one of the most demanding bosses there is. It is to integrate a commando where each one has a precise mission to fulfill; the pressure on the troops is maximum.
“There are days when we worked from nineteen to eight. We shaved in the toilets ”remembers Ryan Popple, who joined Tesla’s finance team in 2007 for three years. “But the big advantage is this ability to make decisions and execute them, adds James McLaury. At NASA, at Boeing, at Lockheed Martin, it takes fourteen green lights to turn a screw. At SpaceX, it’s: “Design, test, and if it works, move forward.” We take out all the bullshit. The slogan is: don’t look for excuses, find solutions. ” McLaury, after leaving SpaceX in 2012, took a year off. He was lean, but also weighed down with a good bundle of company shares. How much ? “It’s none of your business. But I am financially sheltered from need ”, he scolds us.
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