Musk Is Back at Work and Burning Through Executives

The sun is shining bright again in the Elon Musk business empire. Don't get burned.

- Tim Higgins

The billionaire entrepreneur may still be pining for a political revolution with talk of starting his own third party to punish spendthrift Republicans, but recent high-profile departures at his companies underscore that the Boss is back.

"Thank you for your contributions," Musk—who has a way with goodbyes—told his outgoing chief executive at X, Linda Yaccarino, on Wednesday.

She announced her departure after two years on the hot seat, running the billionaire's social-media platform. Yaccarino's role was largely about trying to revive advertising for a guy who seems allergic to the art of the sale. Just days earlier, it was revealed that Omead Afshar, who was heading sales and manufacturing for Tesla in North America and Europe, had left Musk's electric-car company.

Both departures reflect an old saying among Musk alum: to survive with the mercurial leader is to avoid flying too close to the sun. Musk being the sun.

Finding shade was easier when his Department of Government Efficiency effort was churning 120 hours a week for the Trump administration. That came to an end for him in late May. Now Musk is burning hot (if not always 100% focused).

The latest executive departures also underscore Musk's complicated relationship with the sales functions at his companies. He's the ultimate salesman of the future vision. But he tends to churn through sales leaders responsible for moving today's inventories—whether that's ad spots or electric sedans.

And, these days, Musk is acting like the AI chatbots and cars will sell themselves.