Elon Musk apologises to wheelchair-bound ex-Twitter employee after exchange goes viral

Elon Musk vs Haraladur Thorleifsson on Twitter is a viral conversation now. (Image: iamharaldur/Twitter)

Icelandic entrepreneur and former Twitter employee Haraldur Thorleifsson’s conversation with ex-employer Elon Musk went viral on social media on Tuesday. When Thorleifsson asked about his employment status and dues settlement to Musk, the Twitter owner asked the disabled businessman his roles and responsibilities on Twitter.

Some counters and further questions followed in the Twitter thread after which Musk stopped responding. The thread blew up and was all over social media with Twitter employee Andy Cohen calling the conversation “the most entertaining exit interview” he witnessed. This time Musk responded and that went viral too with nearly 55 million views.

“The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm. Can’t say I have a lot of respect for that,” Musk tweeted.

Thorleifsson’s response was not too far behind. In a long list of points, the Icelandic businessman of the year 2019 stated what his medical condition is and what it entails.

The 45-year-old was born with a genetic congenital muscle disease and has been using a wheelchair since he was 25.

Hi again @elonmusk

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I hope you are well.

I’m fine too. I’m thankful for your interest in my health.

But since you mentioned it, I wanted to give you more info.

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I have muscular dystrophy. It has many effects on my body.

Let me tell you what they are: https://t.co/2vb16kP6Yv

— Halli (@iamharaldur) March 7, 2023

On him being “independently wealthy”, the entrepreneur had a response for the billionaire slighting his roots in South Africa and his father’s wealth.

“About nine years ago I started a company called @uenodotco. I worked a lot, it didn't do my body any favors but it's what I felt I needed to do. The hard work paid off and the company became very successful. We worked for more or less every big tech company. We grew fast and made money. I think that's what you are referring to when you say independently wealthy? That I independently made my money, as opposed to say, inherited an emerald mine,” he wrote.

He also explained why he sold his company to Twitter – then not under Musk – in 2021.

“But after seven years I was tired. Covid was running for longer than the two weeks you said it would. And my body was also continuing to get weaker. After looking at many options I decided to sell my company to Twitter. Financially it wasn't the best decision. My company was making a lot of money and Twitter's offer was lower than any smart valuation would say. But like you I made a bet on Twitter having a lot more potential than it has had,” he explained.

Thorleifsson also added that Musk has stopped the fast growth of the company and that every layoff batch was promised to be the last one but never did. He also explained that he was in constant touch with Human Resources to keep himself useful.

“I talked to my manager every week and asked what I should focus on. And then I proceeded to do those things. Every one of them. I also contacted HR regularly and asked if my job description was correct or needed updating. I wanted to make sure I was doing what I was supposed to. They always said they were looking into it but I never got a reply,” he wrote.

Also read: An ex-Twitter employee asked Elon Musk a question. A bizarre conversation followed

He even addressed his typing issue brought up by Musk.

“And now finally to my fingers, which I know you have great concern for. Thank you for that btw. I'll tell you what I told them. I'm not able to do manual work (which in this case means typing or using a mouse) for extended periods of time without my hands starting to cramp. I can however write for an hour or two at a time. This wasn't a problem in Twitter 1.0 since I was a senior director and my job was mostly to help teams move forward, give them strategic and tactical guidance.”

He finally threw in the same question he has been originally asking – about settling his dues.

“Let me know if you are going to pay what you owe me? I think you can afford it?” he tweeted.

Musk, in the original thread, said he had a video call with Thorleifsson.

"I just did a videocall with Halli to figure out what’s real vs what I was told. It’s a long story. Better to talk to people than communicate via tweet," he wrote subsequently apologising.

"I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation. It was based on things I was told that were untrue or, in some cases, true, but not meaningful. He is considering remaining at Twitter," Musk wrote.

He also had a further few points to make.

"He has a prominent, active Twitter account and is wealthy. The reason he confronted me in public was to get a big payout. From what I’ve been told, he’s done almost no work for the past four months, middle-management or otherwise. Despite his claims on Twitter that he did work, it turns out he told HR that he couldn’t work because he couldn’t type, but was, over the same period, typing up a storm on Twitter. Yet there are many people on Twitter defending him. This hurts my faith in humanity," Musk wrote.