Elon Musk blasts the work-from-home crowd, saying they are 'detached from reality'

Tesla CEO
Elon Musk and the Tesla factory in Fremont, California.
Nathan Howard and Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

Elon Musk says people who ask “Why doesn’t everyone work from home” give off “Marie Antoinette vibes.”
“Why did I sleep in the factory so many times? Because it mattered,” Musk added.
His criticism of remote work marked an abrupt shift from a discussion about Tesla’s car pricing during the company’s earnings call.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk ranted against remote work during Tesla’s third-quarter financial results call and criticized the work-from-home crowd as being “detached from reality.”

Musk said on Wednesday that the people who ask, “Why doesn’t everyone work from home,” give off “real Marie Antoinette vibes.”

“How detached from reality does the work-from-home crowd have to be? While they take advantage of those who cannot work from home. Why did I sleep in the factory so many times? Because it mattered,” Musk said, while drawing a comparison between remote workers to factory workers, restaurant workers, and delivery workers.

Musk’s comments marked an abrupt pivot from a prior discussion about the affordability of Tesla’s cars. After sharing his thoughts on remote work, he resumed the pricing discussion by saying, “So, I just can’t emphasize again how important cost is.”

Musk has made similar comments about remote work in the past. In May, Musk told CNBC he thought remote work was “morally wrong,” and likened remote workers to Marie Antoinette’s infamous “let them eat cake” remark.

The Tesla CEO’s push for in-office work could stem from his own workaholic tendencies — like sleeping in the office — according to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk.

His workaholic tendencies were also evident after he acquired Twitter last year — he announced in November that staff were expected to have 40-hour work weeks in the office. The company even transformed some offices into bedrooms, and a former Twitter executive went viral for sleeping on the floor to meet deadlines imposed by Musk.

Musk is currently the richest man in the world, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, which estimates his net worth to be $226 billion. During Tesla’s earnings call on Wednesday, the company reported third-quarter revenues of $23.35 billion, missing Wall Street expectations of $24.06 billion.

Representatives for Musk and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.