Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak slams Musk’s mass firings: “Not how you run a business”

Steve Wozniak

Steve Wozniak isn’t a fan of Elon Musk, and he’s not afraid to say it. The Apple cofounder recently spoke to CNBC and shared some blunt opinions about Musk—both as a CEO and now as the guy in charge of cutting costs in the federal government.

“I don’t know what got into his head,” Wozniak said, talking about Musk’s role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “Sometimes you get so rich at these big companies, when you’re on top, it goes to your head, and you’re the most credible person in the world, you’re the brightest, and you’re gonna dictate what others will do.”

Musk has built a reputation for shaking up industries—electric cars, rockets, and even social media. But now, as the government’s efficiency expert, Wozniak thinks his approach is more about force than finesse.

“Bullying is the best way to think of it,” he said.

Musk’s cost-cutting efforts have been controversial. Critics, including government workers and legal experts, say he’s making cuts without really understanding what’s at stake. Reports say some of the so-called savings come from contracts that had already ended or jobs that had to be reinstated. The government has even reversed some of the layoffs, bringing back employees at the CDC, FDA, and even the agency that handles nuclear safety.

“These mass firings—not good for a business to run that way,” Wozniak said. He compared it to what happened when Musk took over X (formerly Twitter), where he fired most of the staff, only to realize later that some were actually needed and had to be rehired.

That doesn’t mean Wozniak is against making things more efficient. He actually agrees that government spending should be trimmed where possible—but he thinks there’s a better way to do it.

“It should be done, I guess, more surgically, with a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer,” he said.

Even with all his concerns, Wozniak is willing to wait and see how things turn out.

“I still think, let’s wait till it’s done, there might be some good that comes out of it that we can agree on,” he said.

Musk and Tesla haven’t responded to Wozniak’s comments yet—but knowing Musk, he’s probably not going to stay quiet for long.