Tech billionaire Elon Musk has challenged Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella over a contentious claim about the company’s hiring practices, following an unverified post on X that accused Microsoft's gaming division of excluding white candidates from its recruitment process.
The post also accused the tech giant of deliberately hiring “unqualified queer and black people” for roles in its video game projects, alleging an executive mandate against hiring “crusty old white dudes.”
This claim seemed to stem from a tweet shared by Josh Sawyer, director of the popular video game Fallout, in which he encouraged Black artists to seek portfolio reviews and job advice while also remarking that there were “too many crusty white dudes in this field.” The post was highlighted to Elon Musk by podcaster and influencer Ian Miles Cheong.
Musk responded by tagging Satya Nadella, commenting, "Um, Satya Nadella, this is illegal...."
Meanwhile, Cheong also drew attention to a post by Kelly Lombardi, the global head of Microsoft's Xbox marketing team, in which she wrote, "Raise your hand if you're not a white man and you buy video games. (No hate to white dudes. It's just another day in the gaming industry that minorities have to fight to prove they exist)."
In response, Cheong commented, "The Global Head of Marketing at Xbox/Microsoft wants you to know that if you're a white male dude, the company doesn't want you or care about you.”
The post generated over 52 million views and several comments. One user wrote, “It is 100 per cent illegal to hire, fire, promote, or provide additional resources too on the basis of skin colour. Anyone that does so is going to face a massive lawsuit.”
“They give the gaming jobs to a lot of people who don't even like games, or think the games are secondary to their political goals and status. What Disney did to marvel comics is worse, unforgivable really,” added another user.