Last week, Tesla whistleblower Karl Hansen alleged that an employee at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory was involved in a massive drug ring, while others stole $37m worth of raw materials.
What was Elon Musk doing during all of this? Illegally spying on former employees, according to Hansen.
A former member of Tesla’s internal security department and investigations division, Hansen is the second whistleblower to file a formal complaint with the SEC this summer.
Hansen claims Tesla failed to disclose an investigation the company conducted after receiving a tip that an employee had been moving “significant quantities” of cocaine through Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory “on behalf of a Mexican drug cartel from Sonora Mexico.”
And that’s not even Hansen’s craziest claim — he also alleges that Tesla installed eavesdropping and wiretapping devices in its facilities and illegally scanned messages and conversations from Martin Tripp at the request of Elon Musk himself.
Tesla’s OG whistleblower. Back in July, the former Tesla employee alleged that Tesla manufactured batteries with punctured holes, as well as systemically used waste material in vehicles to meet its lofty production goals.
Tesla sued Tripp for $1m, accusing the former Gigafactory technician of hacking the automaker’s computer systems and stealing company secrets — a claim Tripp denies.
Now, things are heating up: On Thursday, Tripp came out of hiding and tweeted alleged visual proof of the damaged batteries and waste materials (the pictures have been removed).
The whistleblowing, along with Musk’s wreckless Tweets about re-privatizing the company being investigated by the SEC, have caused Tesla’s share price to slide $40 over the last few weeks, wiping almost $6B in value from the company.
Musk’s once-endearing eccentric behavior is beginning to worry board members, who are now reportedly said to be on the lookout for “senior talent” to help Musk take a load off.
And if it wasn’t already clear that he needs it, Musk recently broke down in a New York Times interview, where he revealed his absolutely bonkers work/life balance (or lack thereof), clocking in 120 hours a week at Tesla.