A decade of hardcoreness

Hey everyone, it’s Dana in San Francisco. Elon Musk has been hardcore for at least a decade. But first…Today’s must-reads:• FTX’s advisers f [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hey everyone, it’s Dana in San Francisco. Elon Musk has been hardcore for at least a decade. But first… Today’s must-reads: • FTX’s advisers [found “only a fraction”]( of stated crypto assets • Meta [confronts an Apple-sized hole]( in its ads business • ID.me [misled the public to win US contracts](, lawmakers found The true test Thursday night was the deadline for Twitter Inc. employees to fulfill the latest demand from Elon Musk: commit to being “hardcore” or leave the company. “This will mean working long hours at high intensity,” Musk wrote in an email on Wednesday. “[Only exceptional performance]( will constitute a passing grade.” To an old-time Tesla Inc. reporter like myself, the email was familiar. Urging employees to be hardcore — or even ultra hardcore — is a longstanding management technique for Musk. In 2012, when Tesla had just started delivering its first Model S sedans, Musk sent two emails that are classics of the genre. The first came in June with the subject line “Ultra Hardcore.” In it, Musk warned that scaling up Model S production would require “extreme effort,” according to a copy of the email seen by Bloomberg. “Please prepare yourself for a level of intensity that is greater than anything most of you have ever experienced before,” he wrote. “Revolutionizing industries is not for the faint of heart, but nothing is more rewarding or exciting, and I will personally make sure that those who produce exceptional results are rewarded exceptionally, as is fair and right.” Weeks later, Musk sent a follow-up email with the subject “The True Test.” This time, Musk told employees that Tesla faced two critical battles. The first was achieving a production rate of 500 cars per week; the second was surpassing a 25% gross margin. Like a wartime general rallying his weary troops, Musk said the push was key for Tesla to become “an incredibly valuable company that dramatically changes the world” or “just another footnote in history.” “Please talk to your spouses, children, relatives and friends and explain what I’ve said in this email,” he wrote. “What it means is they will see much less of you for the next six months and there will be almost zero vacation. Please reduce time off and travel plans to the absolute minimum necessary to maintain sanity and avoid divorce. I am being very serious.” Musk ended by saying he was available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, “for as long as I draw breath.” Despite the similarities between Musk’s memos, there’s a big difference between the Tesla of 2012 and the Twitter of 2022. A decade ago, Tesla was an upstart struggling to challenge legacy automakers. No one thought an electric vehicle startup in Silicon Valley would be able to take on Detroit or Germany and survive. Tesla’s clear mission — as well as Musk’s zeal and tremendous drive — inspired scores of young engineers to join the cause. Working for Musk in those early days was dizzying and exhilarating. Musk led by example. He put almost all his time and attention into Tesla and expected the same in return. Employees knew what they were signing up for: Silicon Valley’s most extreme boot camp. Tesla had been public for just a couple of years, and its stock had upside potential. But Twitter employees — those who are left, anyway — never signed up to work for Musk. Twitter was already one of the world’s largest social networks before the billionaire’s aggressive bid to buy the company, his humiliating attempt to wiggle out of the deal and his bumbling opening moves as “chief Twit.” The acquisition valued the business at $44 billion, and even Musk has admitted he overpaid, which may not leave a lot of upside for employee shareholders. Meanwhile, Musk maintains plenty of corporate responsibilities elsewhere and said in a Delaware court this week that he soon won’t spend as much time working on Twitter. Musk seems hellbent on driving out large swaths of Twitter’s employees and contractors by firing critics, conducting more traditional layoffs and demanding everyone work in the office. The hardcore memo may have pushed things too far. Shortly before the deadline, when it became apparent that more employees would take his buyout offer than anticipated, Musk sent an email [softening his tone on remote work](. Perhaps this is all about making room for new people who are sufficiently hardcore. The question is whether there are enough of them out there willing to enlist in this fight. —[Dana Hull](mailto:dhull12@bloomberg.net) Today in Twitter The US government is scrutinizing Elon Musk’s Twitter deal over [national security concerns](. An ex-contractor sued Twitter for failing to give [sufficient notice of job cuts](. A former manager also sued, claiming a return-to-office mandate discriminates against disabled workers. A former chairman of the company said Musk risks [inviting new competitors to challenge Twitter]( if he sullies the social network further. Get fully charged Elizabeth Holmes will face the potential of years in prison for her crimes in the Theranos saga. [Her sentencing is Friday](. Alibaba posted a surprise loss, signaling that Covid protocols in China are [taking a sharp toll on consumer spending](. It also [delayed a planned conversion of its listing]( in Hong Kong. Still, investors were [pleased with its buyback program](. Jack Ma’s Ant Group [incurred a steep profit decline]( as well. Tencent won the first major approval of a video game in China since Beijing clamped down on the sector over a year ago. Metal Slug: Awakening was [among 70 domestic titles approved](. Watch: [global venture capital news update]( from Bloomberg Technology. IBM’s CEO predicted tech spending would rise… [as long as there’s not a “catastrophic recession.”]( Makes sense. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. [Sign up for Game On]( to go deep inside the video game business, delivered on Fridays. Why not try both? Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights.​​​​​​​ You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Tech Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](