Is Elon Musk a Bad Boss? Billionaire's Companies Experiencing Massive Exodus - Here's Why

Elon Musk's rise has long been fuelled by relentless ambition — but in 2025 that ambition seems to be pushing his top talent over the edge. Across Tesla, xAI, X and beyond, a wave of high-profile departures is rippling through his companies, driven by burnout, fierce culture and political backlash. As his personal fortune climbs to £326 billion ($500 billion), critics wonder: is his management style a force for innovation or a recipe for widespread collapse?

Musk's companies demand total devotion, with employees often logging 120-hour weeks under a 24/7 campaign-style ethos dubbed 'Tesla time'. This intensity, while credited for breakthroughs like SpaceX's Starship launches, erodes morale and sparks burnout, leading to a revolving door at the top.

Across Tesla, SpaceX, X, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI, insiders describe a fear-driven environment where dissent invites dismissal. An anonymous advisor revealed, 'The one constant in Elon's world is how quickly he burns through deputies. Even the board jokes [about] 'Tesla time'.'

The Demanding Culture Driving Departures

Tesla's April 2024 layoffs of 14,000 staff—about 10 per cent of its workforce—triggered further voluntary exits as Musk pivoted investments from electric vehicles to robotics. At X, regulatory delays on its Money project stem partly from high staff turnover, stalling deadlines by years.

Such pressures disproportionately affect families, with one former xAI counsel lamenting, 'I love my two toddlers and I don't get to see them enough.' This culture, once a badge of honour, now drives talent away.

High-Profile Exits in 2025

2025 has seen a cascade of key departures, underscoring cracks in Musk's leadership. On 9 July 2025, X's CEO Linda Yaccarino stepped down after two turbulent years, amid advertiser flight and Grok AI's antisemitic outbursts that torpedoed revenue hopes. She praised the 'historic business turnaround' but cited the platform's evolution into an 'Everything App' under xAI as a pivot point.

At xAI, CFO Mike Liberatore lasted just 102 days before joining OpenAI on 4 September 2025, tweeting about the grueling 120-hour weeks. General Counsel Robert Keele followed in August 2025 after 16 months, prioritising family. Tesla lost engineering leads over Musk's political endorsements, with one ex-employee noting weekly calls from distraught colleagues: 'If your moral compass is saying you need to leave, that isn't going to go away.'

Even Musk's Department of Government Efficiency saw 21 civil servants resign by June 2025, refusing to align with his efficiency purge. In a X post by The Information on 4 September 2025, they highlighted, 'Elon Musk's X Money Plans Stalled by Regulators, Staff Turnover' due to his uncompromising approach. These exits signal deepening instability.

Implications for Musk's Empire

The persistent employee exodus across Musk's ventures threatens core operations, from Tesla's push into robotics and autonomous vehicles to SpaceX's ambitious Starship program, by depleting institutional knowledge and slowing innovation pipelines.

Business analysts report that such high-level turnover hampers the ability to execute long-term strategies in competitive fields like AI and sustainable energy, potentially eroding market leadership. Musk's vocal political engagements and abrupt policy shifts have intensified these challenges, prompting ethical concerns that drive away diverse, skilled professionals essential for breakthroughs.

Mass Layoffs Compound Voluntary Departures

Resource assessments from industry reports underscore how mass layoffs, including Tesla's 2024 cuts of over 10 per cent of its workforce, compound voluntary departures, leading to recruitment costs estimated in the hundreds of millions and reduced productivity. His controversial stint leading the Department of Government Efficiency until July 2025 further highlighted tensions between public scrutiny and private demands, mirroring internal frictions.

While proponents argue Musk's intensity fuels rapid progress, mounting evidence from executive surveys suggests it risks fracturing the £326 billion ($500 billion) conglomerate unless balanced with sustainable practices.