Elon Musk, who is often criticized for his controversial statements and often does not go back on his word, manages to draw a reaction from his followers with his constant tweets. This time, the Twitter CEO became the target of criticism arrows over the words he used to a former employee who reached him via Twitter.
Moreover, this former employee was both a philanthropist, a kind of partner of Twitter, and a disabled person. Fortunately, the genius billionaire soon realized his mistake.
It all started when the former employee tweeted to Elon Musk
Twitter employee Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson stated in a tweet that he tagged Elon Musk on March 6, that his access to his work computer was cut off at the same time as 200 employees 9 days ago. Stating that the manager of the Human Resources department did not know whether he was fired or not, Thorleifsson asked for Musk’s help. However, the conversation that started with Musk’s reply gradually turned into a discussion with each tweet.
After Musk’s reply, Thorleifsson’s tweets remained unanswered, but after Twitter employee Alex Cohen shared these tweets and said, “I’m not going to lie, this was the funniest dismissal interview I’ve ever witnessed,” Musk’s answer to Cohen was the last straw.
Daniel Houghton, who later worked with Thorleifsson before, tagged Musk, saying, “He is someone you would definitely want on your team. I’m sure there is a misunderstanding about ‘not working’,” Musk made a statement hours later, stating that he had a video chat with his former employee.
He is considering staying on Twitter.
So who is this Haraldur Thorleifsson?
Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson, an Icelandic entrepreneur and philanthropist, provided design, consultancy and marketing services to many companies such as Uber, Slack, Google and Reuters with his company named Ueno, which he founded in 2014. Halli, who sold his company to Twitter in 2021, was participating in programs and organizing podcasts in order to raise awareness of people about other disabilities, especially his own disability, while working in certain positions on Twitter. He is also known for his musician and entrepreneurial identity.
Halli, who has dysferlinopathy and uses a wheelchair, has been awarded the “Person of the Year” all over the world in 2022, as well as awards from Red Dot, Webby’s and many other institutions.
While things are getting better after Musk’s apology, many Twitter users are angry that Elon Musk accused an employee of “not doing his job” without doing enough research. Halli states that this is normal and that such problems can happen to anyone in any company.
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