Elon Musk allegedly accused a Tesla employee of 'extensive and damaging sabotage'

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk accused an employee of “extensive and damaging sabotage” to the company’s operations in an email sent on 18 June to company employees. [caption id=“attachment_3922339” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Elon Musk. Image: Reuters[/caption] Musk said an employee had made code changes to the company’s operating system and exported “large amounts of highly sensitive Tesla data to unknown third parties,” according to the email, which was obtained by Reuters. The company is investigating whether the employee “was working with any outside organizations,” the email said. “As you know, there are a long list of organizations that want Tesla to die,” Musk wrote, listing Wall Street short-sellers, oil and gas companies, and car company rivals. A company spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment. The accusations of sabotage come a week after Musk announced layoffs for 9 percent of the company’s workforce. Although Musk said the reorganization does not impact production associates and is not expected to delay manufacturing targets, thousands of employees lost their jobs. Tesla has struggled to ramp up production of its **Model 3 sedan** , which is intended for mass production and critical to helping the company achieve long-term profitability. Tesla’s stock price slipped 53 cents to $370.30 in after-hours trading.