Trae Cervantes worked at Tesla for seven years, but he called it quits in March 2025. But why? The former Elon Musk fan didn’t like what his billionaire boss was doing all along.

Cervantes was an engineering technician at Tesla’s big factory in Nevada. He told Business Insider that he couldn’t work there anymore because of Musk’s behavior. “I could not compromise my morals,” Cervantes said. The breaking point came when Musk appeared to make a “Nazi salute” at a political event, which made Cervantes feel “ashamed to tell people where I work.”

Cervantes started working at Tesla in 2018 as a regular factory worker after a recommendation from his bestie. Despite his background, admittedly Tesla gave him a good job with good pay and a chance to grow. The man grinded 12-hour shifts, which was kinda hard, but he believed in Tesla’s mission. “Tesla changed my life,” Cervantes remarked, explaining that the job gave him purpose when he was going through tough times with divorce and other personal problems.

Over time, Cervantes noticed that Tesla was changing (seemingly not for the better). Instead of focusing on making better cars and helping the planet, everything started to revolve around Musk himself. Cervantes said there was a “personality cult” around Musk at the factory. Workers even made T-shirts about Musk’s controversial moments, like when he smoked marijuana on a podcast.

Cervantes tried to ignore the obvious and focus on Tesla’s mission; however, it got harder with Musk becoming more political and controversial with his association with Trump and DOGE. Finally, after the Nazi salute incident, Cervantes decided he had to quit. He quipped, “Can’t do this anymore.”

I worked at Tesla for 7 years. I quit because I couldn’t support Elon Musk any longer. https://t.co/WfIUhKTgK7
— Business Insider (@BusinessInsider) June 28, 2025

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