3 ms·

Yup, when just a simple trivial response would do. Either no reply & cc:HR, or "Yup, HR should get on this". With that kind of money and power, the #1 or #2 r

by toss1 4y ago

Yup, when just a simple trivial response would do. Either no reply & cc:HR, or "Yup, HR should get on this". With that kind of money and power, the #1 or #2 richest person in the world, you can afford to be extremely gracious and self-effacing. And it is good for your wealth. Instead, Elon chooses to make a public show of being a smug, petty, abusive, asshat. What an impoverished emotional weakling is on display here. Almost sad and pitiful, except for his abuse of others.

93po 4y ago
Elon didn't make this public, the (independently very wealthy) employee did that.
- kentm 4y ago
  The employee tried to confirm the firing, which is relevant to his contract, privately with HR. After getting no response, he asked Elon about his employment and contract status publicly as a last-ditch effort. Instead of answering the question, Elon tried to pivot into talking about the guy's work in order to save face publicly. That part of it is on Elon, not on the employee in question. Its incredible to me how people are burying the lede here to somehow rehabilitate Musk's disastrous response.
- dyno12345 4y ago
  here "wealthy" is a dig on the employee
- toss1 4y ago
  Yes, Elon did exactly that. Thorleifsson repeatedly inquired of HR, then made a single tweet to Musk. As I pointed out, Musk could have 1) simply ignored it, 2) ignored it and cc'd HR to reply, or 3) publicly replied something brief and to the point, such as "Yes, terminated, cc:HR to close out paperwork". Yet, musk chose to do none of the above, instead choosing to escalate the situation, evidently while underestimating his opponent. This is absolutely 100% on Musk, it's his company, his response, and he's the wealthiest and one of the most powerful men in the world. He chose it, and the fact that he got publicly pwnd is entirely his own doing. But, as usual, there's that meme about some weird nerd who always throws himself in front of a valid point to try to protect Elon. (If it matters, I also posted on HN several things defending Musk, but this is indefensible)
  - wpietri 4y ago
    Very well put. Somebody once pointed out to me that the reason Instagram became so much more popular with celebrities than Twitter is that Instagram has filters to make you look prettier, but Twitter doesn't have anything to make you look smarter or funnier. Musk is clearly desperate to be The Best At Social Media. But he's just not. Which should be fine! We can't all be good at everything. But he can't let it go. So much so that he spent $44 billion to win at Twitter. And when that wasn't enough, he ordered people to fix it for him: https://www.platformer.news/p/yes-elon-musk-created-a-special-system https://www.platformer.news/p/yes-elon-musk-created-a-specia... I saw the Twitter purchase described as "fragile narcissist buys criticism factory" and that gets truer by the day.

by toss1 4y ago

93po 4y ago

Elon didn't make this public, the (independently very wealthy) employee did that.

kentm 4y ago
The employee tried to confirm the firing, which is relevant to his contract, privately with HR. After getting no response, he asked Elon about his employment and contract status publicly as a last-ditch effort. Instead of answering the question, Elon tried to pivot into talking about the guy's work in order to save face publicly. That part of it is on Elon, not on the employee in question. Its incredible to me how people are burying the lede here to somehow rehabilitate Musk's disastrous response.
dyno12345 4y ago
here "wealthy" is a dig on the employee
toss1 4y ago
Yes, Elon did exactly that. Thorleifsson repeatedly inquired of HR, then made a single tweet to Musk. As I pointed out, Musk could have 1) simply ignored it, 2) ignored it and cc'd HR to reply, or 3) publicly replied something brief and to the point, such as "Yes, terminated, cc:HR to close out paperwork". Yet, musk chose to do none of the above, instead choosing to escalate the situation, evidently while underestimating his opponent. This is absolutely 100% on Musk, it's his company, his response, and he's the wealthiest and one of the most powerful men in the world. He chose it, and the fact that he got publicly pwnd is entirely his own doing. But, as usual, there's that meme about some weird nerd who always throws himself in front of a valid point to try to protect Elon. (If it matters, I also posted on HN several things defending Musk, but this is indefensible)
- wpietri 4y ago
  Very well put. Somebody once pointed out to me that the reason Instagram became so much more popular with celebrities than Twitter is that Instagram has filters to make you look prettier, but Twitter doesn't have anything to make you look smarter or funnier. Musk is clearly desperate to be The Best At Social Media. But he's just not. Which should be fine! We can't all be good at everything. But he can't let it go. So much so that he spent $44 billion to win at Twitter. And when that wasn't enough, he ordered people to fix it for him: https://www.platformer.news/p/yes-elon-musk-created-a-special-system https://www.platformer.news/p/yes-elon-musk-created-a-specia... I saw the Twitter purchase described as "fragile narcissist buys criticism factory" and that gets truer by the day.