Elon's Spies · Tortoise Media

Horrible human being

May 13, 2025·37 min·3 clips

Tesla's own security chief describes watching Martin Tripp's private text messages appear in real time on a screen next door.

Morning. A recorded date and an email reading pull the case back to the private investigation into claims about Vernon Unsworth. The allegation is grim. A source says Elon Musk sent a long message making a grave claim involving Unsworth and a 12-year-old bride. Then the episode shifts to Tesla, where employees are described as proud of the work and proud to work for Musk. Martin Tripp was one of them, at least at first. Musk had told Tesla employees to email him directly if they saw problems inside the company. So Martin did. In this account, Tripp and his bosses were worried about high scrap levels, Musk called one percent a huge goal, and nothing really moved. That might sound reasonable for a while, until it doesn't. In May 2018, Tripp contacted Lynette, apparently hoping outside attention would make Musk notice what was happening. That was the naive part. Lynette says Tesla's secrecy showed up in the NDAs, even for hourly workers, and in Musk's suspicion of outside enemies. The information became publishable. On June 4th, 2018, Lynette reported that Tesla was scrapping 40% of raw materials at the Gigafactory in the Nevada desert. A niche story, maybe, but the host treats it as the small report that changes Martin Tripp's life. The ending stays careful: the reporting points toward someone working on Musk's behalf getting information and passing it back, while Orion Investigations says it acted ethically in relation to Mr. Unsworth.

As heard by us

A cold, patient look at retaliation, leaks, and the machinery behind them.

Elon's Spies takes a familiar Musk story and strips out the drama. What remains is a colder account of private investigators, leaked material, and the cost of deciding a problem needs to be hunted down.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the paperwork behind the Musk story, not just the scandal.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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