Daily Archives: May 25, 2022

A former SpaceX employee said Elon Musk exposed himself to her and propositioned her for sex in 2016.

SpaceX paid the woman a $250,000 settlement, which included a non-disclosure agreement, in 2018, Business Insider reported Thursday. The woman was working as a flight attendant for SpaceX at the time.

Musk, 50, denied the claims in the Insider report.

If I were inclined to engage in sexual harassment, this is unlikely to be the first time in my entire 30-year career that it comes to light, he told the outlet, saying there was a lot more to this story.

The womans friend spoke to Insider after filing a declaration in support of the woman. She was not bound by the NDA.

He whipped out his penis, it was erect, the friend told Insider about the incident.

She said Musk often received massages on his private flights and that her friend got a massage license so she could work with Musk more often, Insider reported. The woman massaged Musk on several flights prior to the incident, the friend said.

On one flight to London, the woman was giving Musk a massage when he disrobed and exposed himself, the friend told Insider. Musk offered to buy the woman, an avid horse rider, a horse in exchange for sexual favors, the friend said.

The woman turned Musk down and eventually left the room, the friend told Insider. She confided in the friend shortly afterward.

According to the friends account, the woman was essentially demoted at work after turning Musk down, Insider reported. She got a lawyer in 2018 and filed an HR complaint at SpaceX.

After the complaint, SpaceX offered the woman $250,000 in exchange for not suing and agreeing to the NDA, according to Insider. The woman did not speak to Insider for the story.

Insider said Musk asked for more time to respond to questions. Despite holding the story for several days, the outlet said Musk did not provide more details.

Wednesday, Musk tweeted, Political attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months.

The eccentric multibillionaire agreed to buy Twitter for about $44 billion earlier this year.

____

Read more:

Elon Musk accused of sexual harassment, reportedly paid $250,000 hush money

After a report alleged SpaceX paid a flight attendant to settle a sexual misconduct case against Elon Musk, the tech billionaire called it a politically motivated attack. Musk is seen here in March, at a new Tesla factory in Germany. Christian Marquardt/Getty Images hide caption

After a report alleged SpaceX paid a flight attendant to settle a sexual misconduct case against Elon Musk, the tech billionaire called it a politically motivated attack. Musk is seen here in March, at a new Tesla factory in Germany.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is hitting back at an accusation of sexual misconduct, saying a news article alleging that he propositioned a flight attendant on a private plane is false and politically motivated.

The denial comes after Insider published portions of a declaration with a woman who says Musk exposed himself to her friend and improperly touched her in 2016, when the woman's friend worked as a flight attendant on SpaceX's fleet of corporate jets.

The woman says Musk asked her friend to perform sex acts in exchange for him buying her a horse. Earlier, the flight attendant had reportedly been encouraged to learn how to give massages.

The flight attendant filed a sexual misconduct claim against Musk, and SpaceX paid her $250,000 in 2018 as part of a settlement that's bound by non-disclosure and non-disparagement clauses, Insider reported.

Musk defended himself on Twitter the platform he's in the process of buying saying late Thursday, "for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue."

Insider says it derived details about the alleged incident from conversations with the woman, who says she provided a declaration to support her friend's claim because the flight attendant had confided in her about the incident. The outlet says it also reviewed emails and other records.

Musk is portraying the report as part of a political attack on him, saying it's linked to him saying on Wednesday that he is switching his support from Democratic to Republican candidates. He ended that message by stating, "Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold."

Musk later reiterated that the misconduct claim is a political attack, saying that the woman airing the allegations "is a far left activist/actress in LA with a major political axe to grind." He also endorsed a name for the scandal: Elongate.

But minutes after sending that message, Musk lodged another accusation: that Insider had published a hit piece on him, "to interfere with the Twitter acquisition."

Insider says it published its story only after asking Musk for comment, adding that it pushed back its deadline after the billionaire asked for more time to respond to the allegation.

Continued here:

Elon Musk denies a report accusing him of sexual misconduct on a SpaceX ...

SpaceX and Shotwell didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shotwells remarks came in response to a bombshell report from Insider last week, which said that Musk had exposed himself to a flight attendant in 2016 and offered to buy the woman a horse in exchange for an erotic massage. SpaceX reportedly settled the claim four years ago for $250,000.

Musk has vehemently denied the accusations, saying they are politically motivated. The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens this is their standard (despicable) playbook but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech, Musk tweeted after the articles publication.

The claims come amid a chaotic Twitter buyout proposal from Musk. Last month, he laid out his plan for the platform, envisioning it as a beacon of free speech and transparency in content moderation. Musk said hed open-source Twitters algorithms and undo the ban on former president Donald Trump instituted after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Musk said last week that he was putting the bid on hold over details of Twitters disclosures on the number of bots on the platform, though he said he is still committed to the deal. In response, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal posted a long tweet thread explaining the companys procedures regarding bots. Musk replied with a poop emoji.

See the original post:

Elon Musk's Employee Said Her Boss Is A Great Guy - BuzzFeed News

Tesla chief Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

When Tesla chief Elon Musk overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the worlds richest person for the first time last September, Musk told Forbes he was sending a giant statue of the digit 2 to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal. Nearly eight months later, neither man is likely in a joking mood.

The U.S. stock market rout this year has seen to that, taking a massive chunk out of public company values. With inflation surging and interest rates rising throughout the first half of 2022, stock markets are facing some of the worst starts to a year in history. The S&P 500 just posted its seventh straight week of losses, its longest down streak since March 2001. And the Nasdaq just ended its worst month (April) since October 2008.

The fortunes of the 50 richest people on the planet (worth a combined $2.9 trillion as of last Fridays close) have shriveled by more than half a trillion dollars since the beginning of the year, according to Forbes estimates. No one has lost more than Musk and Bezos, whose net worths have cratered by a combined $123.6 billion from December 31 through Friday May 20.

Since the beginning of 2022, the fortunes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have cratered by a combined $124 billion, Forbes estimates.

Bezos, worth an estimated $133.3 billion as of Friday, is $59.3 billion poorer than he was on December 31. Shares of Amazon have sunk by 35% over that period, outpacing the tech heavy Nasdaqs 27% drop over the same period. But compared to his rival Musk, Bezos, who stepped down as Amazons CEO to become executive chairman last July, may be more of a victim of circumstance with less control over his falling fortune.

Amazon is a work from home poster child and the stock has been crushed as the average consumer is now shopping in more normalized patterns than the last few years, says Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. In this risk-off market, Amazon along with other tech stocks have been under massive pressure.

Thats not to say that Bezos, who now ranks as the worlds third richest person after Bernard Arnault of French luxury empire LVMH (worth $142.3 billion as of Friday, after seeing a $57.2 billion drop since December 31), is sitting idly by as his fortune dwindles. In fact, the typically reserved Amazon chairman has ripped a page out of Musks playbook, taking to Twitter to criticize the Biden Administration for stoking inflation with its spending.

Musk, who briefly became the first person ever to be worth $300 billion or more when Teslas market capitalization surpassed $1 trillion twice in November and January, has also faced headwinds out of his control for example, production issues in China due to the countrys latest round of Covid lockdowns. But hes also played a more active role in sending his own fortune down tens of billions to $207.3 billion; hes down $113 billion from his all-time peak on November 4 and down $64.3 billion since the end of December.

Most of the 37% decline in shares of Tesla so far this year through May 20 has come in the past six weeks. The electric vehicle makers stock has fallen by 35% since April 13, the day before Musk announced his $44 billion Twitter takeover. That is double the Nasdaqs 17% loss over the same period. The acquisition has overshadowed the record revenue and profits Tesla reported for its most recent quarter on April 20. Musk did earn $23 billion worth of performance-based options that day (now worth $15 billion), partially offsetting the drop in his fortune.

Wedbushs Ives earlier summed up Tesla investors concerns about the Twitter acquisition, noting that worries about Musk selling Tesla stock to pay for the Twitter deal and distraction fears for Elon are causing a bear festival on the name.

The deal to acquire Twitter has certainly been distracting. Tesla investors briefly rejoiced on May 13, when Musk tweeted that the takeover was on hold over concerns about the number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform, leading many to speculate that hes looking for a way out because tech stocks had tanked since he made his $44 billion offer. But the celebration ended quickly, when Twitters board responded in a statement to the New York Times last Tuesday that it intends to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement between the company and Musk, hinting at the possibility of litigation.

Tesla investors are still faced with the question of how Musk will finance the $27.3 billion equity commitment he made to Twitters board, with little more than $8 billion of cash on hand, according to Forbes estimates. Hes pledged not to sell any more Tesla shares, after unloading more than $8 billion worth (pre-tax) last month, but he may not have any other choice. Given Twitters limited free cash flows and the falling value of Tesla shares that would likely be required as collateral, Musks bankers may be reluctant to lend him any more money (hed already pledged more than half his Tesla stake as collateral for other loans before pursuing Twitter). And with sexual misconduct allegations (which Musk denied on Twitter) now hanging over his head, outside investors may be hesitant to chip in for a deal he was forced to close. (Musk has not responded to Forbes request for comment).

According to Columbia University law professor John Coffee, Musk could be forced to sell a lot of his Tesla stock (which is his only real asset). That will drive the price down and some shareholders in anticipation of such sales are getting out early. (Forbes estimates that Musk holds a 47% stake in his rocket producer SpaceX worth $42.7 billion, though as a private company it is much less liquid than his Tesla shares).

Musk may have an opportunity to win back some Tesla shareholders with additional clarity regarding his plans at Twitters annual shareholder meeting this Wednesday, which Wedbush analysts Dan Ives and John Katsingris described in a note as a fork in the road situation [for Musk] in which he has to decide his next step in this soap opera as Tesla investor patience is wearing very thin.

The path forward for Bezos may be even less certain, largely dependent upon macroeconomic factors and investors rediscovering their appetites for tech stocks. But despite the challenging start to 2022, Bezos and Musk remain a combined $203 billion richer than they were at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

See the article here:

Billionaires Elon Musk And Jeff Bezos Have Lost $124 Billion This Year - Forbes

San Francisco, May 25

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday slammed billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates after a report claimed that the Microsoft co-founder poured millions into attacking Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

Far-right publication Breitbart News claimed that hundreds of millions of dollars flew from Gates' foundation to 11 of the 26 organisations that "signed an open letter last month urging Twitter advertisers to boycott the company if Elon Musk restores free speech on the platform".

Citing research and analysis from the Foundation for Freedom Online (FFO), the report analysed public filings to trace hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions from the letter signatories back to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

"In total, 11 of the 26 anti-Musk organisations received funding from a Gates-backed entity," the report claimed.

Musk replied: "What a d*** move!"

"You think that's bad, wait until you find out what he put in your vaccine," Musk replied to a follower.

As per FFO's analysis, Gates Foundation paid 102 separate cash grants to or through New Venture Fund, totaling $457 million.

Soros, Clinton, Obama staffers shoot off anti-Musk letter to boycott Twitter After Musk tweeted about "who funds these organisations that want to control your access to information", the reports surfaced late on Wednesday that the groups behind the anti-Musk campaign belong to wealthy Democrat donors and their family foundations, labour unions and the governments of European nations.

Earlier this month, about 26 activist organisations and NGOs signed a letter to Twitter advertisers asking them to boycott the platform if Musk makes content moderation changes.

It was later revealed that some of these groups are funded or tied to billionaire philanthropist George Soros, former US presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

"Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter will further toxify our information ecosystem and be a direct threat to public safety, especially among those already most vulnerable and marginalised," the groups wrote to advertisers.

"Under Musk's management, Twitter risks becoming a cesspool of misinformation, with your brand attached, polluting our information ecosystem in a time where trust in institutions and news media is already at an all-time low," the groups wrote.

The Daily Mail had first revealed the people behind the 26 groups.

Musk has put the Twitter deal on hold till the company reveals the actual number of bots on its platform.

He has sparred with Gates on Twitter earlier too over various issues.

Gates had expressed apprehension regarding Musk's Twitter takeover, saying he could potentially make the micro-blogging site a "worse" platform.

Musk earlier tweeted a picture of Gates, accusing him of shorting Tesla's stock.

Gates replied, saying Musk's tweeting "doesn't bother me". IANS

Go here to read the rest:

Bill Gates 'poured' millions into attacking Elon Musk, Tesla CEO tweets wait until you find out what he put in your vaccine - The Tribune India

Elon Musk, fresh off of a week of what is now in retrospect only moderately unhinged tweets, is now tweeting about the Far Right's cherished Replacement Theory.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

In addition to being close with the Buffalo shooter's screeds, this theory was, as noted by others on Twitter, a popular conversation topic in the waning days of Apartheid South Africa, a time and place rich with history for a young Elon.

None of this is surprising. Ahead of accusations of being a sex pest at SpaceX and attempting to barter a handjob for a horse, Elon claimed he was now a card-carrying Republican, and that hit pieces would follow. As one reporter pointed out, Elon does not refute; he attacks.

This plan of attack sends Elon down an increasingly racist and right-wing direction. This is not the least successful career path in the United States, certainly it can get you elected to the White House. But Elon's job is a little different. He sells cars. He sells fancy, high-tech cars to liberals. Theoretically, as he goes right, he will become unpalatable to this left-wing audience. We all know someone with a Tesla. This person is not talking replacement theory.

Then again, maybe not! The liberal enclave of Silicon Valley is less liberal than it likes to present itself. This is Peter Thiel's part of the country, and Peter Thiel is far from a peace-loving hippie. Maybe Musk's racist turn won't hurt Tesla sales. Sure Tesla's stock has been down, but it fluctuates. Maybe this all ends up as Twitter drama. Maybe we'll all be surprised. Maybe we'll just be disappointed.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Go here to read the rest:

Elon Musk Is Trying to Figure Out How Racist He Can Be - Road & Track

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro arrives to a resort hotel where he is expected to meet with Elon Musk in Porto Feliz, Brazil on Friday.Photo: Andre Penner (AP)

Theres a lot of scandals hitting Tesla CEO Elon Musk all at once, but at least he knows he has a friend in Brazils deforester-in-chief Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing demagogue who similarly to Musk, has a very hard time taking any sort of public criticism, and has tried using the power of his office to make sure his conspiracies dont get deplatformed.

Musks trip down south was reportedly meant to include talks about internet connectivity within the country alongside concerns of rapid deforestation. The Brazilian Amazon has seen a 15-year high under the three-year Brazilian president, which has scientists concerned it could lead to a total ecological collapse.

While making vague and unconvincing overtures to preserving the Amazon, Bolsonaro reportedly lauded the tech billionaire for his Twitter stance. The Brazilian president told the SpaceX CEO that his planned takeover of Twitter is a breath of hope, adding Freedom is the cement for the future. Musk has repeatedly said he doesnt agree with Twitter account perma-bans, and wants to effectively open up the platform for anybody and everybody to post what they want. The billionaire has proposed incredibly vague ideas for which tweets could require content moderation, including anything that is illegal or otherwise just destructive to the world, or just wrong or bad.

Bolsonaro, an ultra-right and violent figure who has defended the 20-year military dictatorship of his country that ended nearly 40 years ago, has claimed that companies like Twitter are left-wing and are silencing people like him. He has used those platforms to attack the Brazilian electoral system much in the same way former President Donald Trump did for the 2020 election. After Trump was banned, Bolsonaro told his supporters to avoid much of current social media.

G/O Media may get a commission

Save $70

Apple AirPods Max

Experience Next-Level SoundSpatial audio with dynamic head tracking provides theater-like sound that surrounds you

Musk is apparently seeking praise from wherever he can get it. He is currently embroiled in scandal after Insider reported Thursday about a SpaceX flight attendant who was allegedly sexually harassed by Musk, and that she was then paid $250,000 for her silence.

Alongside the sexual harassment accusation, Musk is being taken to task in a new FX and New York Times documentary that examines how the billionaire has responded to crashes involving his Tesla cars autopilot feature. Reporters say that Musk pressured lawmakers into curbing investigations into those crashes.

Other than for his Twitter stance, its no wonder that Bolsonaro is rolling out the red carpet for the worlds richest man. The president is five months out from a tense election this October, and Bloomberg reported Friday that Musk is a celebrity among Bolsonaros right-wing base. Musk himself proclaimed himself for the Republicans in a tweet Thursday afternoon.

Trying to get away from this accusation, Musk would apparently rather talk about his lingering plans for self-driving cars with the Brazilian strongman, despite the new documentary making the rounds. Of course, Musk has long promised completely autonomous vehicles, so its not like this is anything revelatory.

Continued here:

Elon Musk Completes Transition to Supervillain With Bolsonaro Meeting in Brazil - Gizmodo

Tesla CEO Elon Musk at Tesla's "Gigafactory" in Germany. Patrick PleulAFP via Getty Images hide caption

Tesla CEO Elon Musk at Tesla's "Gigafactory" in Germany.

Just as his effort to buy Twitter has led the world to focus on Elon Musk's management style and business strategies, FX and The New York Times have stepped up with a documentary taking a close look at how Musk responded to crashes involving the Autopilot function in cars from his company, Tesla.

For those watching Musk's fitful attempt to buy Twitter, the film also serves as a pointed comparison; showing how his penchant for bold moves and provocative statements can lead fans to see what they want in his words regardless of whether what he says is actually possible.

As part of FX's The New York Times Presents documentary series, Elon Musk's Crash Course suggests that Musk oversold the cars' self-driving capabilities, leading to public confusion over what it could actually do. And when federal authorities began an investigation into a fatal crash involving the technology, the program says Musk pressured officials to curb the investigation.

"He would say really cool things like science fiction things and he would make you believe that you could do it," said JT Stukes, a former senior product engineer at Tesla, noting how Musk's ambitious public statements turned into goals staffers would have to work hard to attain.

"The message is constantly going up and down," added Cade Metz, a technology correspondent for the New York Times. "Elon can change his mind at any moment. He can say one thing at one moment and then say something completely different."

The film features fresh interviews with a wide range of subjects, including former Tesla employees and corporate leaders, Times journalists and friends of a man killed in a 2016 crash while operating his Tesla's Autopilot function. Musk declined to sit for an interview, but is represented by loads of clips from public appearances and past interviews.

In one clip, Musk is shown calling the development of self-driving technology for cars a "solved problem"; in others, he predicts a near future where cars can park themselves and navigate long trips without driver assistance.

Times journalists and some critics say such bullish talk has confused consumers, leading them to think that Tesla's cars can be trusted to drive themselves. The film notes that Tesla used hype around its Autopilot system as a selling point to get consumers to buy its cars.

But Tesla insists drivers should keep hands on the steering wheel while Autopilot is operating, just in case the system fails to recognize a road hazard. (In one telling news clip, a CNN anchor asks: if drivers still must hold the steering wheel while Autopilot is on, "what's the point?")

Crashes involving Tesla's Autopilot function explicitly illustrate the high stakes involved. One man, Josh Brown, was killed when his car didn't recognize a tractor trailer crossing in front of the vehicle.

"People were trusting the system to do things it was not designed or capable of doing," Stukes said. "The fact that...[Brown's accident] happened was obviously tragic...But it was going to happen."

One former employee noted Musk had updates to the autopilot sent to his personal vehicles, so staffers wound up working to address his concerns instead of looking at larger issues. Another ex-employee said cameras the cars use to detect traffic and roadways had a blind spot where a small dog or small child might not be seen.

When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finally released its report on the accident which claimed Brown's life, it concluded the Autopilot system wasn't at fault, because it was an Advanced Driver Assistance System requiring the driver to pay attention during operation. The report also included an observation which the film says was based on data from Tesla that the company's cars with the auto-steering technology crashed 40% less than those without it, allowing Tesla to spin the report as a positive finding.

The film quoted one former employee, software engineer Raven Jiang, who was unsettled by how the system worked. "Sometimes it seems like people and companies were being rewarded, not for telling the truth, but in fact, for doing a bit of the opposite," he added.

Like a few other TV projects these days, the documentary zeroes in on the strategy employed by many Silicon Valley leaders to talk up the possibilities of their companies' products before their achievements are fully realized. It's a "fake it until you make it" style that allows companies to harness enthusiasm and capital to push toward goals which might otherwise seem impossible to reach.

But Elon Musk's Crash Course is a straightforward look at the dangers of such an approach when the product involved controls a speeding automobile.

And it asks us all the consider the possible damage from a system which tolerates and even rewards such risks in service of a powerful, wealthy business moguls chasing profits and glory.

Read the original here:

'Elon Musk's Crash Course' shows the tragic cost of his leadership - NPR