Author: Li Jinrui, Chengdu Business Daily
On the 12th local time, eight fired SpaceX engineers (four men and four women) filed a lawsuit in court, claiming that SpaceX founder Elon Musk had sexually harassed and discriminated against women, and retaliated after they protested and illegally fired them.
The lawsuit claims that Musk's behavior contributed to a culture of sexism within SpaceX, subjecting female employees to harassment and sexism. However, SpaceX denies any illegal behavior and denies that Musk was involved in the decision to fire the eight engineers.
At the same time, a heavy investigation report on Musk was released on the 11th, claiming that Musk maintained ambiguous relationships with multiple women within SpaceX. The report was written after interviewing more than 40 relevant people, including former SpaceX employees, people familiar with Musk's interactions with female subordinates, and family members and friends of these female subordinates, and reviewing relevant documents, emails and other materials.
It is worth noting that as early as 2021, there were reports that several women claimed to have been sexually harassed while working at SpaceX, but the male employees involved were not punished (Related report from Red Star News: Several women claimed to have been sexually harassed while working at SpaceX, and the male employees involved were not punished).
Musk has not yet responded to the investigation report. SpaceX President Shotwell said that the report does not reflect SpaceX's corporate culture and is misleading.
It was revealed that he had sex with an intern and arranged for someone to fly to deliver her passport
The investigation report pointed out that in 2017, Musk personally contacted a female engineer who had interned at SpaceX and wanted her to take a position in his management team. The engineer was more than 20 years younger than Musk.
In fact, the two met as early as 2017. The woman met Musk when she was an intern at SpaceX during college. At that time, as an intern, she proposed ideas to Musk to improve SpaceX. She told her friends that it was her initiative that led to their first date, and then they had sex.
The report shows that after a year of internship, Musk invited the woman to meet at a resort in Sicily, Italy. At the time, Musk was attending a meeting there. But she did not bring her passport with her, and her passport was in another city. Musk then contacted the woman's friend in that city and arranged for her to take an early flight to deliver her passport. She was then able to fly first class to London and then to Italy on a private jet. Soon after, the two ended this relationship.
After Musk personally extended an invitation to join the company in 2017, she accepted the invitation and moved from New York to Los Angeles to join SpaceX and became a member of Musk's management team. Former SpaceX employees said that although she was a talented engineer, they found it strange that such a young person could hold such an important position, and the position was very close to the boss (Musk). The woman's friends said that she told them that after arriving in California, Musk invited her to drink and touched her breasts. Musk also said to her at the time: "Oh, I'm so bad. I shouldn't do this."
The text messages obtained by the report show that about half a year after working together, the woman received an invitation from Musk to visit his home. Musk first sent two words: "Come over!" After not receiving a reply, he sent several text messages in succession, saying, "I am too stressed and can't sleep." Still not receiving a reply, Musk sent another message saying, "Then it's better for us not to meet."
The next morning, the woman woke up to see the messages and replied that she fell asleep last night. Later that day, she shared the conversation record with another friend and said that she suffered from mild social anxiety, which made the job more difficult, and Musk undoubtedly exacerbated the condition. Her friends said that the woman told them that her work was not going well and her relationship with Musk became awkward. In the end, she left the management team and reported to another engineer. In 2019, she left SpaceX.
Through her legal team, the woman stated in a written statement that she had no romantic relationship with Musk from 2017 to 2019, but admitted that she did have a romantic relationship with Musk during her internship.
Several former female employees were involved and all used compensation to "clean up the mess"
In addition to this female engineer, at least three other female SpaceX employees have been involved in Musk’s “romantic scandal.” As early as 2022, the media revealed that Musk asked a flight attendant who had signed a contract with SpaceX to give him a massage during a flight in 2016, and offered to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage.
According to people familiar with the matter, during the mediation process between SpaceX and the employee in 2018, the employee also claimed that Musk exposed his private parts to her. After rejecting Musk, SpaceX began to exclude her. In November 2018, SpaceX paid her a $250,000 compensation in the separation agreement. In exchange, she promised not to sue Musk.
The third former female employee involved said that Musk had repeatedly asked her to bear a child for him, but she refused. After that, she continued to work for Musk. But as the relationship between the two deteriorated, the employee finally left in the summer of 2013. According to a person familiar with the matter, the woman received a total of more than $1 million in cash and stocks as compensation for leaving.
The fourth former female employee had a sexual relationship with Musk for nearly a month in 2014. She told people around her that she and Musk were very close due to work. The two had to communicate frequently about work, so their workstations were very close. In order to keep up with Musk's pace, she had to work more than 17 hours a day. In addition to her work at SpaceX, she also had to handle Tesla's affairs and be responsible for Musk's private life.
One day in the fall of 2014, Musk suddenly invited her to his house for a drink. That night, she went to Musk's house with her computer and briefcase. After drinking and chatting, the two had sex. According to the text messages the woman shared with her friends, Musk often dated her for a period of time. Musk once promised to give her Tesla stocks in bed as compensation for her extra work. However, the woman said that Musk eventually refused to give her stocks and instead proposed to pay her $85,000 in compensation directly.
In order to get the compensation, the woman also signed an agreement promising not to discuss working for Musk and to keep information about Musk "strictly confidential."