Now, he’s reportedly making them explain why they should be given their stock options.
In an email sent to staff, reported by The Verge, Musk reportedly said that the company would reward stock options based on employee impact and that workers would need to submit a one-page summary of their contributions to X to get them.
One source also told The Verge that employees were still waiting for their annual equity refresher, which was expected in April.
It comes nearly two years after Musk gave staff at the company a famous ultimatum.
In a late-night email, the billionaire told employees they would need to work “long hours at a high intensity” and be “extremely hardcore” and that those unwilling to do so should quit.
Around half the company took the second option, and those that remained have seen Musk keep his word.
Former employees who worked under the Tesla CEO at X have talked about being forced to sleep in the office to meet “impossible” deadlines. Musk has also shared images on X of engineers working late into the night.
Other employees reportedly joked that they had to monitor spiking heart rates on their Apple Watches amid the rollout of Musk’s X paid subscription service.
X is now planning to relocate its HQ to Texas and close its San Francisco office, although X CEO Linda Yaccarino told employees the company would still have a presence in the Bay Area through a space shared with xAI in Palo Alto.
Former Uber and Skype engineer Gergely Orosz described X as “the definition of a ruthless workplace” in a post on the site.
“Push people working there to the max with expectations above most (all?) other tech companies… but STILL make these people prove they deserve market comp. Just wow,” he wrote in response to The Verge’s report.
X did not respond to a request for comment, sent outside normal working hours.
