Haraldur Thorleifsson asked Musk whether he was laid off or not after not being able to log in to his work computer
Elon Musk apologized in a series of tweets for mocking an ex-Twitter employee and questioning his disability.
Haraldur Thorleifsson, a former Twitter employee, stated in a tweet on Monday that he was unable to log into his computer and that Twitter’s human resources department refused to provide information on his employment status.
After nine days of receiving no response from Twitter, he asked CEO Musk, “Perhaps if enough people retweet you’ll answer me here?”
Musk and Thorleifsson continued their Twitter conversation, and Musk questioned his work, disability, and need for accommodation.
Thorleifsson, also known as “Halli,” has a “prominent, active Twitter account and is wealthy,” according to Musk, and the “reason he confronted me in public was to get a big payout.”
During the conversation, Thorleifsson stated that he received an email from Twitter informing him that he was no longer an employee.
As the argument heated up, Thorleifsson was forced to explain his condition, muscular dystrophy.
“I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday. It was based on things I was told that were either false or, in some cases, true but insignificant. He’s thinking about staying at Twitter.”
Thorleifsson did not immediately respond to Musk, but later tweeted, “I’m opening a restaurant in downtown Reykjavik very soon. It was named after my mother.”
Thorleifsson, an Icelandic entrepreneur, sold his company, Ueno, to Twitter in 2021 and joined the company before Musk bought it.
According to Icelandic media, Halli is the country’s highest taxpayer.
According to Iceland Review, when his company was sold to Twitter, Halli chose to be paid the sale price in installments rather than a lump sum, which meant he had to pay more taxes.
“Halli, on the other hand, gladly paid the higher tax rate, having spoken publicly on numerous occasions about the benefits he has received from the Icelandic social system,” according to Iceland Review.
He was then named Iceland’s Person of the Year at the end of 2022.
