SpaceX Said to Fire Employees Involved in Letter Rebuking Elon Musk

SpaceX Said to Fire Employees Involved in Letter Rebuking Elon Musk

According to three employees with knowledge of the matter, SpaceX, the private rocket firm, 

 fired employees on Thursday who assisted in the writing and distribution of an open letter condemning the behavior of its top executive, Elon Musk.

On Wednesday, some SpaceX employees began distributing a letter denouncing Mr. Musk's Twitter activities. The billionaire's public behavior 

and tweeting were described as "a frequent source of distraction and shame" in the letter, which begged the firm to rein him in. Mr. Musk is presently negotiating the purchase of Twitter for $44 billion.

According to the three employees and an email from Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, SpaceX had fired some of the letter's organizers by Thursday afternoon.

The New York Times obtained her email, in which she stated that the corporation had investigated the message and "removed a number of personnel involved."

"The letter, solicitations, and overall process made employees feel uneasy, intimidated, and bullied, and/or outraged," Ms. Shotwell wrote, "since the letter encouraged them to sign onto something that did not reflect their opinions."

 "We have far too much important job to do, and we don't need this kind of overreaching activity."

It's unknown how many staff were let go. A request for comment from SpaceX spokesman James Gleeson was not immediately returned.

The open letter was written in response to recent allegations of sexual misbehavior leveled against Mr. Musk in the context of his disputed acquisition of Twitter.