Former Tesla employee, Carl Medlock, has opened up about what life was like at the company owned by Elon Musk, including what he would usually do if you were close to being fired.
Medlock worked there as a former territory manager for four years until 2013, but now has revealed what it was really like working for the famous business owned by billionaire CEO Elon Musk.
Speaking on the podcast The Iced Coffee Hour in August last year, Medlock told listeners about his experience at the company and revealed what the Tesla boss usually did if you were close to being fired.
And it doesn't sound very subtle...
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He explained: "If Elon is micromanaging you, you're probably on you way out because he hires good people [and] lets them do their thing."
He described working for Musk as 'fun', but mentioned that the famous CEO wasn't known as much of a socialiser amongst the team.
Medlock went on to say: "He would talk to you if he needed to talk to you, but he didn't just go BS with people at all."
Wondering is Musk was a joker amongst his employees? Well, Medlock explained that he 'never saw it'.
However, all the staff had a profound respect for Musk, he explained.
"One of the respectful things that everybody at Tesla did without even saying it, when he was with kids, nobody disrespected him – nobody went over there and talked to him."
Later on the podcast, Medlock told the story of leaving the company and getting fired as he explained: "There was a car in Hawaii that was all scratched up, so an email came to me from somebody way high up at Tesla and said fix the problem.
"My boss said 'I don't care what he says' you're not going to Hawaii for more than $500.
"I said we need to take care of this lady, she's in her third year of owning this car and she still has not been able to drive it because it is so scratched up."
Medlock explained he received confirmation, so he shipped all the products, like buffer and polisher, to the customer.
He said his son went to fix the car and that the lady was 'raving' about it, but little did he know, this was the end of his time at Tesla.
He continued: "My boss looks at me and goes 'you are not gonna live through this'. He told HR that the trip was not authorised, and we got fired for an unauthorised trip to Hawaii."