Current and former Tesla employees often describe CEO Elon Musk as the smartest person they’ve ever met; they say the company itself is thrilling, tumultuous and the site of some of their proudest work. On the other hand, as one former executive put it, “Everyone in Tesla is in an abusive relationship with Elon.” (Wired)

Talking point: As the company’s Model 3 production heated up—in what Musk called “production hell”—workers described an unstable atmosphere where Musk would often fire employees on the spot for being unable to answer a question. Though Tesla was able to hit its manufacturing target and surpass profit expectations, several top execs have since left the company, factory workers have reported unsafe conditions and Musk himself has been embroiled in multiple bizarre incidents. In spite of Musk’s alleged verbal abuse and emotional instability, many former Tesla employees still hold him and the company in high regard. “Tesla is the only company positioned to make this world a better place, to really improve the world right now,” Eric Larkin, who was fired in April after three years, told Wired. “And Tesla is Elon. How can you be bitter about humanity’s best hope?”