The senior Tesla engineer recently announced his resignation at the company after eight years. Sharing a LinkedIn post, Giorgio Balesterii cited Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s leadership and concerns about the impact on Tesla’s mission. Geo, who worked with Tesla Energy and motorcyclers in Europe, thanked his colleagues and called Tesla “bright, humble, ambitious, hardworking people” who made Tesla special. In the post, GIO highlighted the company’s energy storage growth, expanding from 350 MWH in 2017 to 31.4 GWH in 2024, celebrating Tesla energy advances in Europe and beyond.He said it was a “very difficult decision” to leave, but pointed out Musk as the main reason. “The main reason I’m leaving is because I think Elon has done a lot of damage to Tesla’s mission (and the health of some countries’ democratic institutions),” Geo wrote. He also accused them of lying to the public, manipulating public discourse, targeting minorities, and working with the oil and gas industry, supporting climate deniers and political forces. He added: “It appears Elon’s leadership and decision-making have seriously compromised.”
Full post from a former Tesla employee blames Elon Musk for resignation
Personal Update: After 8 years at Breakneck Speed, I made it a very difficult decision to move on from Tesla.I would like to thank everyone I’ve worked with over the years at Tesla. People – these crazy bright, humble, ambitious, hardworking people – are what makes Tesla special. I am beyond words to thank the many colleagues and leaders I have learned through working with over the years.Being Europe’s first motorcycle employee and helping to expand the fleet of the team and the entire market was an incredible journey. Since 2020, the European auto-mediated operational fleet has moved from 14 MWH (Hall’s Bay) to about 1.3 GWH (~100 times) and is soon offered online (very) online. I’ve helped hire many amazing people over the past few years, so I’m very excited about the next automated agent processing in Europe and beyond.It was a great privilege to grow it early on in Tesla Energy, beyond motorcycles, and contribute to its growth. Along the way, I had the opportunity to tackle everything from microgrids on remote islands to VPPs on three continents. It’s humble to think about how much the energy industry has evolved this year. Storage has become a key enabler of the transition from retrofit to sustainable energy. When I joined in 2017, Tesla Energy deployed ~350 MWh of storage. Last year, in 2024, the figure was 31.4 gWh. It’s another 100 times more, and growth is far from halting. However, it’s not just the volume. Storage is increasingly providing inverter-driven grid services that are key to manipulating low-carbon grid operations (such as grid formation modes).Additionally, data and algorithms have reached a central stage for energy transitions. This is a very exciting development of energy/math/software won like me.All this, I need to deal with the elephant in the room. The main reason I leave is because I think Elon has done a great deal of damage to the health of Tesla’s mission (and the democratic institutions of some countries). Beyond that, Elon’s leadership and decision-making seem to have been a serious compromise. Given his massive (and inexplicable) Tesla stock, I can’t be sure anymore that this is the right place. This is not just about politics. It involves lying to the public, manipulating public discourse, targeting minorities, and supporting climate change denials and political forces along the oil and gas industry. I think it’s quite uncontroversial that the current US administration is slowing down the energy transition. Unfortunately, speed is important to avoid the worst outcomes of climate change.I will do my best to everyone who continues to stick to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy. I hope it’s perfect for Tesla and Tesla energy.As for myself, I take a little break before embarking on a new adventure. Stay tuned for more updates.cheers,Geo
