Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc, said in an email to staff on Monday that an unnamed employee at Tesla had carried out “extensive and damaging sabotage” to the company’s operations.
The employee, Musk said, purportedly made unspecified code changes to the company’s manufacturing operating system and sent sensitive Tesla data to unnamed third parties.
According to the email which was seen by Reuters, Musk said he learnt about this alleged behaviour over the weekend.
Though Musk did not say whom he was referring to, he wrote, “The full extent of his actions are not yet clear, but what he has admitted to so far is pretty bad”.
He added that the employee’s motivation for the acting that way was because he had not recieving a promotion.
However, None of the claims in the email could be confirmed.
In the email, Musk said the matter would be investigated by the company this week.
He wrote that the company needed to determine if the person was acting alone or with outside organizations.
“As you know, there are a long list of organizations that want Tesla to die,” citing Wall Street short-sellers, oil and gas companies, and car company rivals but naming none.
Spokeswoman for Tesla Inc, Gina Antonini declined to comment on the email.
In a separate email seen by Reuters, Musk informed employees earlier on Monday of a fire at a company facility on Sunday.
Musk wrote in the email that while the fire could have been a random event, they should be on alert for anything “that’s not in the best interests of our company.”
