‘This is illegal’: Elon Musk tags Microsoft’s Satya Nadella on X post questioning company’s hiring policies

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has targeted Microsoft counterpart Satya Nadella over a controversial claim about the company’s hiring practices. Musk’s comments came in response to an unverified post that accused Microsoft’s gaming division of excluding white candidates from its hiring process.

The drama began when an unverified post on X claimed that Microsoft’s gaming division was excluding white individuals from its hiring pool. The post alleged the company was actively hiring “unqualified queer and black people” to fill roles in their video game projects, as part of an executive mandate against “crusty old white dudes.”

This post appeared to react to a tweet reposted by Josh Sawyer, director of the popular video game Fallout, which encouraged Black artists to reach out for portfolio reviews and job advice while stating that there were “too many crusty white dudes in this field.”

Musk reacted by tagging Nadella in his post, saying, “Um, [Satya Nadella], this is illegal…”

Um, @satyanadella, this is illegal … https://t.co/54GC5VW5ZJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024

While the original claims remain unverified, and Microsoft has not officially responded to Musk’s comments, the company has long underlined its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Nadella himself has been a vocal advocate for increasing diversity in the tech sector, and Microsoft has implemented numerous programmes to promote a more inclusive workforce.

This wasn’t the first time Musk targeted Microsoft. He previously mocked Nadella’s response to a global IT outage caused by an update from CrowdStrike, which disrupted services, including Microsoft 365 and Azure cloud.

Nadella assured users that Microsoft was working to fix the issue. But, Musk, in his tweets, commented on the severity of the impact, particularly on the automotive supply chain, saying it “gave a seizure to the automotive supply chain.”

Musk also posted a meme with a laughing emoji, making light of the situation, and retweeted a 2021 tweet where he jokingly compared Microsoft to a fictitious company called “Macrohard.”

Before that, Musk also criticised the Microsoft CEO over the setup process for new Windows PCs, urging him to allow users the option to skip the creation of a Microsoft account.