In the race for technological dominance, finding the right talent isn’t as straightforward as scanning résumés. According to billionaire CEO Elon Musk, traditional credentials often fail to reveal what truly makes someone exceptional.
Musk is well known for his highly hands-on leadership style—something he has jokingly called “nanomanagement”—and hiring has long been no exception. In SpaceX’s early days, he personally interviewed the company’s first few thousand employees. As the company scaled, that approach became impractical, but his hiring philosophy remained intact.
Today, Musk relies on his teams to identify what he calls the “wow” factor. During a joint podcast episode with Stripe cofounder John Collison and tech podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, Musk said he asks for bullet points highlighting a candidate’s “evidence of exceptional ability.”
“Don’t look at the résumé,” Musk said. “Just believe your interaction. The résumé may seem very impressive, but if after 20 minutes the conversation isn’t ‘Wow,’ you should believe the conversation, not the paper.”
He credits this mindset with helping stabilize leadership at Tesla, where senior executives now average 10 to 12 years of tenure. That wasn’t always the case. During Tesla’s rapid growth phase, executive turnover was significantly higher.
The Myth of “Pixie Dust” Talent
Musk recalled a period when competitors—most notably Apple—aggressively recruited Tesla engineers and leaders. In 2018 alone, Apple hired 46 former Tesla employees for its electric car project and other initiatives, according to CNBC.
At the time, there was a belief that Tesla employees possessed “pixie dust”—a kind of transferable magic that would guarantee success elsewhere. Apple reportedly offered salaries double what Tesla was paying, and poaching was easy given Silicon Valley’s dense talent ecosystem, where switching jobs rarely requires relocating.
Musk admits he has fallen for the same assumption himself.
“I’ve hired people thinking that because they came from Google or Apple, they’d immediately be successful,” he said. “That’s not always true.”
Strong credentials and elite company logos, he explained, don’t guarantee performance. Instead, Musk emphasizes talent, drive, and trustworthiness—and says he once underestimated another crucial trait.
“I think goodness of heart is important,” he said. “Are they a good person? Trustworthy? Smart and talented and hardworking?”
Talent Strain Across Musk’s Companies
More recently, Musk’s companies have experienced notable executive departures. Some leaders left to start their own companies or take extended breaks, while others reportedly burned out or disagreed with Musk’s politics, strategy, or waves of layoffs.
The Financial Times reported that Tesla has lost its chief information officer, senior public affairs leaders, and key executives in U.S. battery and powertrain operations in recent years.
At xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, the pressure appears especially intense. Former CFO Mike Liberatore left after just three months, later posting on LinkedIn: “102 days — 7 days per week in the office; 120+ hours per week; Wild ride to say the least.”
Employees told the Financial Times that expectations at xAI have risen sharply, which they attribute to Musk’s competition—and personal rivalry—with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
In August, Musk filed an antitrust lawsuit against OpenAI and Apple, accusing them of attempting to limit AI competition. OpenAI has responded by accusing Musk of harassment and efforts to slow the company’s progress.