Elon Musk makes amends with Halli after misunderstanding
3 min read
Benjamin Fanjoy/Bloomberg via Getty Images
After calling out Twitter employee Haraldur Thorleifsson, aka Halli, for not doing any “actual work,” Musk apologized to the latter when the latter asked why he was fired without notice. The latest exchange between Elon Musk and his employee occurs after thousands of Twitter employees lost their jobs after the company was purchased by Elon in 2022. In reality, Halli is a multi-talented artist who is proficient in both digital and music arts. The billionaire publicly apologized to Halli publicly, but in truth, he is a multi-talented musician as well. Since Twitter acquired Halli’s company in 2021, the 45-year-old multi-talented artist has been associated with the microblogging site. His official website reveals that he has a genetic muscle dystrophy called Dysferlinopathy, a form of genetic muscle dystrophy.
The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2023
Can’t say I have a lot of respect for that.
Allegedly, he was born in Iceland and lives there with his mother and sister. His wheelchair allows him to move slowly around the house. Besides his former company, which designed digital experiences and brands, Halli founded a non-profit agency. His work as a designer has earned him a number of awards, even being recognized by Iceland’s president. During the year 2022, he was named the Icelandic person of the year. The University of Iceland conferred him a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Philosophy. He took up M.S. in Economics aspects yet didn’t complete the course.
This is such obscenely poor leadership it’s harrowing pic.twitter.com/g7TNIDgRM2
— Maladroithe (@Maladroithe) March 7, 2023
Twitter CEO Elon Musk Apologies To The Halli After ‘Misunderstanding’ His Situation
Are you really fired if you are not told you are fired? Probably on Twitter. If you want, you can sometimes get your job back. Last Sunday, Haraldur Thorleifsson, who was employed by Twitter until recently, tried to log into his computer to do some work – only to find himself locked out along with 200 others. After months of layoffs and firings, since Elon Musk took over the company, he might have thought he’d lost his job, as others before him have. After nine days of no response from Twitter, Thorleifsson decided to tweet at Musk to attempt to catch the billionaire’s attention and obtain an answer to Schrodinger’s job dilemma. On Monday, your head of HR wrote that he was unable to confirm whether I was employed or not. Would you be able to respond here if enough people retweet? His answer came after a surreal Twitter exchange with Musk, who questioned his disability and accommodation needs after quizzing him about his work. Thorleifsson, who goes by “Halli,” has muscular dystrophy and he uses a wheelchair. Musk proceeded to tweet that Thorleifsson has an unmistakable, active Twitter account and is richly noticing that he stood up to me in the open to get a major payout.
While the exchange was going on, Thorleifsson received an email informing him that he had been terminated from Twitter. During the afternoon of Tuesday, Musk, however, had a change of heart. It is my sincere regret that I misunderstood Halli’s situation. His decision to leave Twitter was based on untruths or, in some cases, true but unmeaningful information,” he tweeted. “He is considering staying.” A message seeking comment from Thorleifsson was not immediately returned. Thorleifsson has about 151,000 followers on Twitter and referred to the experience as “surreal.” Thorleifsson lives in Iceland. Under the previous management of Twitter, he joined the company in 2021 when the company acquired his startup, Ueno. In Icelandic media, he was lauded for choosing wages over a lump sum payout for the purchase price. In this way, he would support Iceland’s social services and safety net by paying higher taxes.
