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Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century by The Wall Street Journal’s Tim Higgins sheds new light on the impulsive SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s short fuse and habit to unload on anyone – from hourly workers to strangers to top executives – who he saw as a threat to Tesla’s growth.

Sometimes employees drew Musk’s ire for seemingly no reason at all.

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“I’m going to sell a f*** load of cars, so whatever suspension you need so I can sell a f*** load of cars – that’s the suspension I want,” Musk replied according to the engineer.

Musk gained a reputation for exploding at top executives too. Ahead of each weekly executive committee meeting, members would joke about Musk’s lunch plans. “Who would he be devouring this week?” they wondered, according to the book.

Musk became increasingly frustrated with Peter Rawlinson, who was leading the development of the Model S. During one spat, Musk towered over the chief engineer screaming, “I don’t believe you!” as he jabbed a finger toward Rawlinson’s chest. Rawlinson eventually quit and later started an electric car company of his own, Lucid Motors.

Long-time Tesla employees told Higgins it was around this time that Musk’s eruptions became increasingly unpredictable, indiscriminate and public. He would now berate employees of any rank – and not behind closed doors as he used to.

One evening, according to the book, Musk called a group of engineers tasked with making the Model 3 assembly line work into a conference room. He told them their work was “complete s***” and asked that they each tell him “who the f*** you are and what the f*** you’re doing to fix my goddamn line”. One engineer quit on the spot.

Musk’s outbursts extended beyond his own staff. When a lobbyist for franchise dealerships approached Musk about abandoning Tesla’s direct-sales model for one that involved traditional dealerships, Musk cut the meeting short.

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“I’m going to spend a billion f***ing dollars to overturn the dealer franchise laws in America,” the lobbyist recalled Musk saying. Then he abruptly left the room and slammed the door behind him, yelling, “Get that guy the f*** out of here!”

Tesla did not respond to request for comment, but Musk has disputed some specific anecdotes on Twitter, saying the book is “both false and boring”.

This story originally appeared on Business Insider.

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