Former Twitter Manager Describes Elon Musk's Sudden Swings to Rage

His "demeanor can turn on a dime going from excited to angry."

Former Twitter product manager Esther Crawford, who famously slept on the floor at X-formerly-Twitter's offices last year in an apparent bid to prove her loyalty to newly-minted CEO Elon Musk, has now taken to the platform to air her grievances.

Crawford's inside perspective paints a dire yet surprisingly nuanced picture of what was going on behind the scenes in the wake of Musk's extremely chaotic $44 billion takeover.

Crawford didn't pull any punches in her lengthy write-up, criticizing Musk for living inside of an "echo chamber," while also being willing to "burn so much down."

The former VP also described the mercurial billionaire as "genuinely funny," despite the fact that his "demeanor can turn on a dime going from excited to angry," causing people to become "afraid of being called into meetings or having to share negative news with him."

If that sounds horrible, you're not alone. Building a tech product is hard enough without a boss who can fly on the hinges at any moment, firing employees in fits of rage.

Lest you ascribe Crawford's recollections to sour grapes, it's far from the first time we've gotten a glimpse of Musk's infamous mood swings. Last year, an ex-Tesla executive recalled him behaving like a "toddler that was having a tantrum about something, or upset about something" in a BBC documentary.

Earlier this month, biographer Walter Isaacson noted that Musk can enter into "demon mode," causing him to be "dark" and act "with a real lack of empathy" for the sake of productivity.

The term was coined by Musk's ex Claire "Grimes" Boucher, according to Isaacson, who told him it made it "unpleasant" to be around him.

In her lengthy post, Crawford also noted that "being at the top makes a person even more susceptible to being surrounded by yes people when nearly everyone around you is on the payroll and somehow stands to benefit from being in your orbit."

Musk has repeatedly been criticized for surrounding himself with sycophants and having very few — if any — people willing to stand up to him within his inner circles.

Crawford also commented on how Musk may have an exceptional track record for "tackling hard physics-based problems," but clearly lacks the "social-emotional intelligence" to work on "products that facilitate human connection and communication."

"At times it seemed he trusted random feedback more than the people in the room who spent their lives dedicated to tackling the problem at hand," Crawford wrote. "I never figured out why and remain puzzled by it."

In short, it's yet another personal account of somebody once operating in Musk's inner circle who was taken aback by his mood swings and lack of compassion.

"I learned a ton from watching Elon up close — the good, the bad and the ugly," she added. "His boldness, passion and storytelling is inspiring, but his lack of process and empathy is painful."

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