Cyber Monday Sale! 50% Off All Access

Elon Musk Would 'Turn Red' With Anger if Employees Left Before 9 p.m., According to New BBC Documentary The BBC released the first episode of its three-part documentary "The Elon Musk Show," featuring interviews with a former Musk employee.

By Gabrielle Bienasz

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Elon Musk is known for his punishing work schedule and aggressive management style. And according to an employee at his first company, it looks like some things never change.

The BBC is releasing a three-episode documentary series called "The Elon Musk Show" focusing on the life and times of the world's richest man, including interviews with a former employee who alleges that Musk would turn spitting mad if he saw employees not working until 9 p.m.

Musk often walked through the office, "looking to see who was sitting at their cubes, and there weren't many people sitting at their cubes – it was 9 p.m," said Jim Ambras, who served as vice president of Zip2, Musk's first company, per Insider.

"And his face turned red, he was really angry," the employee added.

The BBC says the documentary focuses on big moments in his business career as well as features interviews with friends and family. Unfortunately for U.S. viewers, the documentary is not available for viewing outside the UK due to rights issues, the BBC said.

Episode one starts with his first big business break: Zip2.

The company was an early, online Yellowpages of sorts. With it, consumers could use the internet to find local businesses on a map (before that was a thing people did).

Elon and his brother Kimbal built Zip2 with famously scrappy habits, like sleeping in the office and subsisting on food from chain Jack in the Box. They sold the company in 1999 to Compaq for $307 million.

Elon poured that money into what later became PayPal, of which he was a co-founder, and the rest is super-rich history.

Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business News

Elon Musk Still Isn't Getting His Historically High Pay as CEO of Tesla — Here's Why

A second shareholder vote wasn't enough to convince Delaware judge Kathaleen McCormick.

Leadership

Leadership vs. Management: How to Understand the Difference and 6 Ways to Bridge the Gap

Here are the key differences between leadership and management, highlighting their complementary roles and providing six strategies to develop managers into future leaders.

Growing a Business

Her Restaurant Business Is Worth $100 Million — Here's Her Unconventional Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Pinky Cole, founder of Slutty Vegan, talks about going from TV producer to restaurant owner, leaning into failure and the value of good PR.

Legal

How Do You Stop Porch Pirates From Stealing Christmas? These Top Tips Will Help Secure Your Deliveries.

Over 100 million packages were stolen last year. Here are top tips to make sure your stuff doesn't get swiped.

Business News

'Something Previously Impossible': New AI Makes 3D Worlds Out of a Single Image

The new technology allows viewers to explore two-dimensional images in 3D.

Business News

'I Stand By My Decisions': A CEO Is Going Viral For Firing Almost All of the Company's Employees — Here's Why

The Musicians Club CEO Baldvin Oddsson fired 99 workers at once over Slack for missing a morning meeting. But there's a catch.