Elon Musk's SpaceX Fires At Least Five Employees For Letter Criticising Him: Report

The SpaceX employees have called on executives at the firm to change the company's work culture to make it more inclusive

Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and billionaire Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX.

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Private rocket company SpaceX terminated at least five employees from jobs after they drafted and circulated an open letter criticising Elon Musk, citing two sources, Reuters reported.

According to the report, the SpaceX employees have called on executives at the firm to change the company's work culture to make it more inclusive.

SpaceX, however, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and billionaire Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX.

Earlier, The New York Times reported that SpaceX had fired employees associated with the letter, citing three employees with knowledge of the situation though it had not detailed the number of employees who had been dismissed.

The earlier open letter to SpaceX executives seen by Reuters had called Musk a "distraction and embarrassment" to the company he founded.

According to The New York Times, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell sent an email saying the company had investigated and “terminated a number of employees involved” with the letter.

Shotwell's email said employees involved with circulating the letter had been fired for making other employees feel "uncomfortable, intimidated and bullied, and/or angry because the letter pressured them to sign onto something that did not reflect their views,” the newspaper stated.

In a list of three demands, the letter said "SpaceX must swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Elon's personal brand.”

It added, “Hold all leadership equally accountable to making SpaceX a great place to work for everyone" and "define and uniformly respond to all forms of unacceptable behaviour."

In another development, one Tesla charged the officers and directors of the electric-vehicle maker in a lawsuit of allowing a “toxic workplace culture” to fester at the company.

The complaint, which filed on Thursday by stockholder Solomon Chau in federal court in Austin, Texas, alleged Elon Musk, chief executive officer (CEO) and others who run the world’s largest electric-vehicle maker breached their fiduciary duty by fostering an environment of discrimination and harassment, exposing Tesla to millions of dollars in potential liability.