Tesla engineer quits, slams Musk for 'huge damage' to company
Giorgio Balestrieri, a longtime Tesla algorithms engineer, has left the company after eight years.
In a heartfelt LinkedIn post, he accused Elon Musk of causing "huge damage to Tesla's mission (and to the health of democratic institutions in several countries)."
Balestrieri said Musk is misleading the public and backing climate change deniers and oil-friendly political groups.
Balestrieri's journey at Tesla
Balestrieri joined in 2017 and worked on Autobidder, helping Tesla Energy grow fast—European deployments jumped from 14 MWh in 2020 to 1.3 GWh by 2025, with global numbers rising from 350 MWh in 2017 to over 31 GWh by 2024.
Despite these wins, he shared that staying became impossible because of Musk's growing influence on company values.
Ongoing concerns about Musk's leadership style
Balestrieri's public exit highlights ongoing concerns about Musk's leadership style and its impact on Tesla's clean energy goals.
He thanked colleagues for pushing forward with sustainability work—even as worries about company direction continue to grow.