“He’s the worst.”
“He’s the Worst”
Yesterday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk publicly shamed former Twitter director Haraldur Thorleifsson in front of his well over 100 million followers, telling him his contributions to Twitter amounted to nothing.
In his comments, Musk went as far as to make fun of Thorleifsson’s disability, accusing him of using the fact he suffers from muscle dystrophy as an excuse to not do any work.
In short, it’s the kind of toxic behavior we’ve come to expect from a billionaire CEO, who has consistently accused others of coming after him.
But now, even Musk may have acknowledged that he crossed a line with his insulting outbursts.
“He’s the worst,” Musk wrote in a tweet, which he promptly deleted, responding to Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus warning him that “I don’t think it’s a good idea to shit on former employees in public.”
Second Thoughts
Did Musk have second thoughts about belittling and insulting a former employee?
Other users suggested that Musk may have been warned by his lawyers that he went too far, though it’s unclear if Musk’s derision is enough evidence for a defamation or employment rights lawsuit.
Then there’s the fact that he may be getting Twitter in trouble as well. According to Platformer, Thorleifsson, a senior product design director for Twitter, was terminated last week despite being on a “do not fire list,” as it was reportedly expensive to pay him out.
Illegal or not, Musk’s personal attack is not a good look. His repugnant comments have turned even some of his own most ardent fanboys against him, with some calling him out for his “shockingly uncaring/cruel” behavior.
Meanwhile, Twitter’s operations remain in freefall, or in his own words “a flaming dumpster” — something that’s clearly leaving a mark on the self-destructive entrepreneur.
More on the situation: Elon Musk Publicly Mocks His Employee for Daring to Have Muscular Dystrophy