Working For Elon Musk 'Like Working With Two Different People': Salaries Of Employees At Tesla, SpaceX And Twitter

Whether you love him or hate him, Elon Musk is one of the richest people in the world and if you hustle enough to get a job with him, you are likely sharing in some of that fortune. 

What To Know: Musk is the chief executive of several popular companies that are dishing out some pretty big checks. Although if you work for the eccentric billionaire, your job is probably a dominating part of your life.  

He's been criticized for his strict management approach, where employees are often expected to work unconventional hours for extended periods of time. 

In a world becoming increasingly remote, Musk has pushed back against change. As things returned to normal last year following restrictions related to the pandemic, Musk said if employees don't want to return to the office, "they should pretend to work somewhere else."

Although he's become somewhat polarizing since his Twitter takeover, let's be honest, most people would love to land a job at Tesla Inc TSLA, SpaceX, or even Twitter. 

In a Benzinga poll from late last year, 69% of participants said they would want to work for Musk, 40% of that crowd definitively said yes, while 29% said they would do so given that the pay was good — and let's be honest, the salaries are quite impressive.

According to a Business Insider report, Tesla pays a majority of its employees somewhere between $85,000 and $175,000. Here's a look at some of the average salaries for various positions at the electric vehicle company. 

• Logistics Analyst: $85,333
• Associate Manufacturing Engineer: $93,983
• Quality Assurance Engineer: $104,221
• Global Supply Manager: $119,890
• Technical Program Manager: $120,083
• Senior Hardware Engineer: $142,342
• Electronic Design Engineer: $161,157
• Mechanical Design Manager: $173,200
• Software Development Engineer: $175,703

In a separate Insider piece, one of the founding employees of SpaceX Jim Cantrell recalled his time spent working alongside Musk. 

"Working with Elon was like working with two different people: the good Elon and the bad Elon, and you never knew which you were going to get," Cantrell said. 

His good side was fun and charming and filled with big ideas, but his bad side consisted of a lot of frustration and yelling, as if nothing was ever good enough for Musk, he said. 

He didn't share any details on his pay, but according to data scraped from Glassdoor and Indeed, the rocket company is willing to pay up for talent. 

Production supervisors average $102,000 per year, software engineers make about $172,000 per year, launch engineers can make up to $238,000 and even the interns are paid well. Hourly interns at SpaceX average about $54,000 and salaried interns average closer to $75,000 a year. 

The former SpaceX employee noted that Musk was always thinking big, and he would expect you to do the same if you worked there. 

See Also: Elon Musk's SpaceX To Launch World's 1st Commercial Space Station: Seat Bookings Open

"Elon wouldn't expect you to do anything he wouldn't do, but the lengths he's willing to go is unusual for most people. I suspect the same thing will happen at Twitter," Cantrell said. 

In an interview last month, Musk revealed that he had cut about 80% of Twitter's staff following his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform. Maybe that's because the remaining employee salaries are so high.

Data from Glassdoor and Indeed indicates that directors and group managers make more than $235,000 per year, data scientists average around $167,000 and analysts make close to $135,000 per year — and that's not all. 

In March, a leaked email to staff revealed that the billionaire offered stock grants to Twitter employees at a $20 billion valuation. The grants will vest over four years, and Musk seems to be pretty optimistic about the future value of the platform.

"I see a clear, but difficult, path to a >$250B valuation, meaning stock granted now would be worth ten times more," Musk said to staff. 

Check This Out: Here's What You Could Buy With Elon Musk's Fortune

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