A Tesla worker built a website protesting Elon Musk. He was fired a few days later.

Matthew LaBrot seems similar an improbable look of the Tesla resistance. He drives a Cybertruck and a Model Y and powers his location with the company's star vigor system. He trained Tesla employees however to merchantability the electrical cars crossed North America. If you've watched 1 of the automaker's lawsuit enactment videos, you mightiness have seen him.

He called it his imagination job.

But implicit the past 2 years, LaBrot, a self-described Democrat, became progressively disenchanted with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. His feelings began to crook aft Musk's acquisition of Twitter, and soured further implicit Musk's enactment for President Donald Trump. On April 24, LaBrot acceptable up a website protesting Musk's enactment astatine Tesla. The adjacent day, helium took his Cybertruck to a Tesla Takedown protestation successful California. Less than 24 hours later, helium was fired.

"I wasn't readying connected moving anyplace else," LaBrot told Business Insider. "I was precise blessed with my position, and I could person continued to enactment successful that relation my full life."

While hundreds of protests extracurricular Tesla facilities person sprung up crossed the country, Tesla employees person mostly refrained from speaking publically connected the issue. LaBrot wants to alteration that.

Pro-Tesla, anti-Musk

Hundreds of protestors person gathered extracurricular Tesla facilities implicit the past fewer months. Labrot is pictured present holding a "Pro Tesla, Not Elon!" sign. Cayce Clifford for BI

LaBrot, 35, joined Tesla successful 2019 aft stints astatine Best Buy, Starbucks, and successful existent estate. He roseate rapidly astatine the carmaker, yet stepping into a programme absorption relation for income and transportation grooming successful North America.

He was initially drawn to the institution due to the fact that helium believed successful the ngo of sustainable energy. He had ever been impressed by Tesla's products and the radical who enactment there, helium said. It besides afforded him tremendous opportunities: He moved up the firm ladder, and the company's stellar banal performance helped him acquisition his archetypal location successful 2022.

He archetypal began to question Musk's enactment aft the billionaire took implicit Twitter successful 2022.

"Unfortunately, astatine that time, I chose the way of conscionable instrumentality my caput successful the sand," helium said.

He said helium recovered it harder to disregard erstwhile Musk began donating to Trump's campaign. Musk spent astatine slightest $277 million successful governmental contributions to Trump and different Republican candidates up of the statesmanlike election. He besides held $1 cardinal giveaways for voters who signed his ace PAC's petition. Musk formally endorsed Trump connected July 13.

He was particularly offended by a salute Musk made during Trump's inauguration solemnisation successful January, which LaBrot and different critics believed was a veiled Nazi salute.

"When your CEO makes 1 of those decisions, it pulls the institution on with it," LaBrot said.

After the salute, Musk suggested successful a station connected X that Democrats were down the criticism. He aboriginal said successful an interview with Joe Rogan that he's "not a Nazi."

Tesla's income slump arsenic Musk gets further into politics

LaBrot said helium supports Tesla's mission, but wishes the institution would find a caller CEO. Cayce Clifford for BI

In October 2024, Musk said helium didn't deliberation his governmental activities would impact Tesla, saying income were astatine an all-time high. "I deliberation radical truly attraction astir the prime of the merchandise arsenic opposed to whether they hold oregon disagree with the CEO's views. The CEO of immoderate fixed institution is going to person governmental views," helium said. "At the extremity of the day, what matters is if Tesla makes a large product, and radical similar buying large products."

LaBrot said his on-the-ground acquisition didn't enactment Musk's prediction.

"By predetermination time, we truly started to recognize that these customers we'd expected to spot weren't coming," LaBrot said. The extremity of the twelvemonth is typically erstwhile Tesla income are highest, helium added, and said the institution had been aiming to flooded lackluster summertime transportation numbers successful the 4th quarter.

As ft postulation began to drop, LaBrot said Tesla's income grooming squad was told it was much important than ever to triumph implicit each lawsuit that came done the doors. Tesla began pushing much income promotions and incentives, which was unusual, LaBrot said. Sales unit usually had to enactment done a backlog of customers; if 1 decided not to purchase, determination was idiosyncratic acceptable to instrumentality their place. Now, salespeople were warring to adjacent connected each reservation.

LaBrot said helium was utilized to handling the emblematic EV hurdles: scope anxiety, misinformation, idiosyncratic error. But a CEO who had alienated left-leaning voters was a full antithetic situation altogether.

"We didn't person to bash a ton of overcoming objections due to the fact that those customers conscionable stopped coming," LaBrot said.

Earlier this year, LaBrot said, Tesla's income squad deed different level of panic arsenic EVs began piling up successful income lots. Even Tesla's refreshed Model Y wasn't selling similar they'd hoped, helium said. Tesla released the conveyance successful January and already has a surplus of inventory, LaBrot said. It released a cheaper mentation of the refreshed Model Y connected May 6.

In April, Tesla reported that its first-quarter transportation numbers dropped 13% from the aforesaid play the erstwhile year. In California, a cardinal marketplace for the company, Tesla registrations fell much than 15% during that archetypal quarter.

Analysts accidental determination are multiple factors astatine play erstwhile it comes to Tesla's sales, including lawsuit alienation implicit Musk's governmental views, the company's aging conveyance lineup, accrued contention from companies overseas, and the wide US electrical conveyance market.

A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a petition for comment.

An net telephone and the website

Musk said successful 2024 helium didn't deliberation his authorities would impact the carmaker's sales. LaBrot said his acquisition didn't lucifer that prediction. Cayce Clifford for BI

By aboriginal 2025, LaBrot was increasing progressively frustrated with Tesla. He was unhappy with the company's deficiency of interior connection astir however Musk's governmental views whitethorn beryllium affecting income numbers, arsenic good arsenic scant guidance astir however salesworkers should grip protests and vandalism.

"They're talking astir struggling income and however bash we summation the adjacent rate, without talking astir this humongous elephant successful the room," helium said.

As the months went on, LaBrot said helium began to dependable much of his concerns to his coworkers and successful a gathering with different firm income staff. The tipping constituent came connected April 22, erstwhile Musk announced that helium would beryllium spending little clip connected DOGE and turning his attraction backmost to Tesla.

Two days later, helium posted his website, which helium kept anonymous. It contained an unfastened missive calling for Tesla to find a caller CEO.

LaBrot created a website called teslaemployeesagainstelon.com. Courtesy of Matthew LaBrot

"When it went live, I felt truthful relieved, similar a value had been lifted," LaBrot said. "This connection I've been trying to enactment into words, been expressing successful institution meetings — yet publishing it was a truly bully feeling."

While the unfastened missive was written arsenic if it came from aggregate Tesla employees, LaBrot said helium was the lone writer — but that immoderate coworkers had expressed akin sentiments to him.

In conversations with much than a twelve existent and erstwhile employees, galore told BI they had concerns astir Musk's enactment and governmental focus. Others mostly shrugged disconnected Musk's behavior. One longtime technologist said that portion Musk whitethorn beryllium the look of the company, his relation is acold removed from the day-to-day of the mean Tesla employee.

On April 25, LaBrot spray-painted his Cybertruck with accusation astir his website and the slogan "Pro Clean Energy Pro Sustainability Pro EV Pro Tesla Anti Elon" and displayed it extracurricular a Tesla facility. He said it felt similar a logical adjacent measurement and a bully mode to gully attraction to the letter.

The adjacent day, helium said helium received a telephone from Tesla's Human Resources department. He said helium was told his employment was terminated for utilizing institution resources to physique a website that did not align with the company's perspective. LaBrot denied that helium utilized Tesla resources to physique the site.

Since his firing, LaBrot has continued to be Tesla protests and says helium has received enactment from immoderate erstwhile Tesla employees. Leaving Tesla has been a bitter pill to swallow, helium said, but helium understood the risks erstwhile helium launched the website.

Musk's authorities aside, LaBrot said helium remains a cheerleader for the brand.

"I inactive firmly judge successful the institution and what we're moving towards," helium said.

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