Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk is facing public scrutiny after he reportedly chastised an employee for not being present at a company event in order to witness the birth of his child.
In his book titled "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," business journalist Ashlee Vance wrote about an email exchange between Musk and one of his employees in which the billionaire entrepreneur called out the man for missing a Tesla event.
"That is no excuse," Musk supposedly wrote in the email. "I am extremely disappointed."
"You need to figure out where your priorities are. We're changing the world and changing history, and you either commit or you don't."
Having heard of the allegations, Musk took offense and denied having made the statements through Twitter:
@voxdotcom I have never written or said this. Ashlee's book was not independently fact-checked. Should be taken w a grain of salt.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2015
In another tweet, Musk said that he would never prevent an employee from being with his or her loved ones, especially during a significant family event:
It is total BS & hurtful to claim that I told a guy to miss his child's birth just to attend a company meeting. I would never do that. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2015
The conversation between Musk and his employee was just one of the many quotes and anecdotes featured in Vance's new book. The author enjoyed an "exclusive access" to Musk, his family and his friends.
Vance reportedly spent 30 hours in conversation with the Tesla founder, and he also interviewed 300 people during the creation of the book.
The biography offers a glimpse into the life of Elon Musk, on how he started out in the world of business and how his vision and determination led him to succeed. It also shows his relationships with his family, business partners and employees.
In another quote included in Vance's book, Christie Nicholson, the daughter of one of Musk's advisers, recounted a conversation she had with the billionaire technologist.
"One night he told me, 'If there was a way that I could not eat, so I could work more, I would not eat. I wish there was a way to get nutrients without sitting down for a meal.'"
Vance also wrote about Musk's sentiments during a dispute with the Ford Motor Company on the use of the name Model E.
"Like why did you go steal Tesla's E?" Musk reportedly said. "Like you're some sort of fascist army marching across the alphabet, some sort of Sesame Street robber?"
The hardcover version of Ashlee Vance's "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" is set to hit shelves on May 19.
Photo: Maurizio Pesce | Flickr
