World's Richest Man Elon Musk And Australia's Third Richest Man, Scott Farquhar, Engage In Tweet War Over Office Policy

Scott Farquhar thinks Elon Musk's view of having to work in an office is outdated. (photo: twitter @scottfarkas)

JAKARTA - Elon Musk got into an argument on Twitter or commonly called Tweet War with Australia's third-richest person on Friday, June 3 about the value of ending the pandemic-era habit of working remotely.

In an internal email this week, Tesla Inc's chief executive said "everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week", and "if you don't show up, we'll assume you've resigned". The statement drew criticism from workers' advocates about the potential exposure to the coronavirus.

Co-founder of Australian project management software maker Atlassian Plc, Scott Farquhar, ridiculed the direction in a series of tweets as "like something out of the 1950s". The "work from anywhere" policy for US-listed companies is "key to our continued growth", he said.

News from @elonmusk & @tesla today feels like something out of the 1950s: "Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week". Very different approach to what we are taking at Atlassian and here's why. 🧵 (1/5)

— Scott Farquhar (@scottfarkas) June 2, 2022

"We set our sights on growing Atlassian to 25,000 employees by FY 26," Farquhar concludes. "Are any Tesla employees interested?"

Musk retorted: "The tweet above illustrates why the recession has such a vital economic cleansing function".

The exchange was unusual for Musk, who frequently uses Twitter to make unapologetic statements about sensitive subjects.

Everyone eats same food, uses same restrooms, etc – no executive chef or other ivory tower stuff.

There shouldn’t be this workers vs management two-class system. Everyone is a worker.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2022

In Silicon Valley, many tech companies have moved into mixed home and office work during the pandemic, while others have set back-to-office dates just to push them back when a new outbreak has hit.

Musk, the world's richest person and CEO of SpaceX, also has a record beating other billionaires. In 2021, he posted a picture of the second-place medal in response to a tweet by Jeff Bezos celebrating the success of Amazon.com Inc.

In 2017, Atlassian Farquhar co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes teamed up with Musk, publicly accepting and facilitating his offer to supply a powerful Tesla battery installation for the state of South Australia following a power outage in 2017.

Cannon-Brookes, who has since led a campaign to buy Australian energy company AGL Energy Ltd and accelerate its transition to renewable energy, reposted Farquhar's statement criticizing Musk's return order.