“No choice or Tesla would die”: Elon Musk, on his 90-hour work week
The Tesla CEO works a gruelling 90-hour week, saying that if he didn’t do it, the company would suffer.
In a Twitter exchange on Tuesday, Musk disclosed that, in recent years, his hours at the electric car company were much higher than 80-90 per week, adding that it took a toll on his health and happiness.
This translates to a taxing 13-hour workday, but he said hopes to reduce it to 80 hours next year.
Also read: Will Elon Musk bring self-driving robotaxis to India?
In February, Tesla launched its much-awaited Model 3, with a significantly reduced price of $35,000. Musk is betting on the success of the vehicle to bring the company sustained profits for the future.
He has tweeted a number of fairly controversial things in the past, including plans to take Tesla private, which landed him in hot water with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a settlement last month, Musk agreed to adhere to certain guidelines on his social media use - including avoiding statements on acquisitions, mergers, new products and production numbers.
In an emotional interview with the New York Times last year, Musk said his busy work schedule almost made him skip his brother’s wedding, and forced him to miss his birthday as Tesla ramped up production of its electric cars to meet ambitious targets.
Last year, Musk called out standard working hours, saying, "Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week."
In April, Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma said that working 12 hours a day, six days a week, was a "blessing", sparking criticism from Chinese media and concerns about employee burnout.
A Deloitte survey of employees from 2015 found that a whopping 77 percent of its respondents say they have experienced employee burnout at their current jobs.
Funnily enough, even with his hectic work life, Musk still finds time to respond to questions on Twitter, and managed a swipe at rival Jeff Bezos with a photoshopped picture of the Amazon founder’s Blue Origin lunar lander on Friday.
Also read: Uber’s upcoming IPO puts the spotlight on the ride-hailing startup’s bumpy ride to profitability