From Tesla to X: Wave of high-level resignations reveals turmoil within Elon Musk’s empire

Billionaire Elon Musk’s company system, from Tesla, xAI to X, is facing a brain drain at the leadership level. The harsh work pressure, sudden changes in strategy and Musk’s political views are said to be the main reasons for the departure of a series of veteran staff.

Work pressure, personal conflicts and political stance

Elon Musk’s business empire has seen a wave of departures from senior executives over the past year, according to the Financial Times , due to a harsh working environment and the billionaire’s increasingly clear political stance.

“The rate at which he burns through his deputies is consistent,” a close adviser to Musk said. The 24/7 work culture is said to be a major cause of burnout. Robert Keele, xAI’s former legal counsel, left after 16 months, saying he didn’t have enough time for his family. Mike Liberatore, xAI’s CFO, lasted just 102 days before leaving for rival OpenAI. He said he worked more than 120 hours a week during that time.

Multiple employees said the workload has spiked since ChatGPT launched in late 2022. A personal rivalry between Musk and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is seen as a factor in the increased pressure at xAI and X. “Elon has a ‘stain’ over ChatGPT, and he spends every waking moment trying to beat Sam,” a former senior executive said.

In addition, Musk’s public support for Donald Trump and far-right political figures has caused internal unrest. “Many people don’t want to have to explain to their families why they still work for Elon,” said a former employee.

Personnel changes and strategic shifts at Tesla and xAI

Tesla, which was considered the most stable part of Musk’s empire, is also facing a lot of turmoil. After cutting 14,000 employees in April 2024, a series of key executives have left, especially after Musk decided to shift investment away from electric car and battery projects to focus on robots, AI and self-driving taxis.

One of the biggest changes was the cancellation of the $25,000 low-cost electric car project (Model 2). Daniel Ho, the director in charge of this program, left Tesla in September 2024 to join Google’s Waymo. A series of other senior staff also left, including Drew Baglino (energy), Rebecca Tinucci (Supercharger, later to Uber), and Rohan Patel (public policy).

Key personnel in manufacturing and technology also left, such as David Zhang (Model Y and Cybertruck implementation), Vineet Mehta (battery division, after 18 years), Nagesh Saldi (Chief Information Officer – CIO), and Milan Kovac and Ashish Kumar, two key figures in the Optimus robot program.

Tesla’s business is also struggling. Its third-quarter 2025 financial report showed that sales and revenue both declined compared to the same period last year, partly due to Musk’s political views alienating traditional customers.

At X and xAI, the situation is more complicated. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, resigned in July 2025. Igor Babuschkin, co-founder and chief engineer of xAI, also left in August to start his own project. Other technical leaders such as Haofei Wang, Patrick Traughber, Uday Ruddarraju and Michael Dalton also left X and xAI, with the latter two being recruited by OpenAI.

The reason for the departure is said to be related to Musk’s unilateral decisions and concerns about launching AI features without safety controls, for example, the Grok chatbot made controversial statements.

Although Tesla President Robyn Denholm insists the company is “still a magnet for top talent,” a former senior Tesla executive concludes: “He’s the boss. Anyone who doesn’t acknowledge that, he’ll find a way to get rid of. That makes working with him difficult.”