SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk meets with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (L) at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on May 15, 2023.
Ludovic Marin | Afp | Getty Images
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent an email to “everybody” at his electric vehicle maker on Monday, expressing concern over the company’s current hiring practices.
“I would like to gain a better understanding of our hiring,” Musk wrote in the email. “VPs should send me a list of their department hiring requests once a week.”
Tesla staffers read the email as either a soft hiring freeze, or a signal that Musk is renewing his focus on the car company now that he’s named a CEO for Twitter, according to an employee, who asked to remain unnamed in order to speak candidly.
On Friday, Musk said NBCUniversal ad chief Linda Yaccarino would be Twitter’s new CEO, about six months after he purchased the social media company for $44 billion.
Last month, Tesla reported a more than 20% drop in first quarter net income from a year earlier, contributing to a 10% drop in the company’s stock price. Musk at the time suggested that the company would prefer higher volumes to higher margins, a comment that prompted some concern from analysts.
“Think carefully before sending me a request,” Musk wrote in Monday’s email. “No one can join Tesla, even as a contractor, until you receive my email approval.”
Musk has generally been involved in new hire and budget approvals at Tesla since he took over as CEO in 2008.
Electrek, a publication focused on EVs, previously on the email earlier. Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, Tesla is slated to host its annual shareholder meeting in Austin, Texas. Stakeholders must decide whether to approve of new and old board appointments, including the addition of ex-Tesla technology chief JB Straubel.
Proxy advisory Glass Lewis recommended last month that shareholders vote against Straubel, because they didn’t view him as an appropriate…
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