- Elon Musk’s former lieutenant was told her job was to “help take care of him,” a new book said.
- A member of Musk’s entourage spoke to Esther Crawford after she met Musk, per “Breaking Twitter.”
- A Boring Company staffer told Crawford that “Elon is a very special guy,” the book said.
Elon Musk’s former lieutenant Esther Crawford was told that she needed to protect and look after the owner of X, formerly Twitter, a book said.
In “Breaking Twitter,” which focuses on the aftermath of the acquisition, author Ben Mezrich writes that Crawford was told by Jehn Balajadia, operations coordinator at the Boring Company, that part of her job was to “take care” of the billionaire.
The book said the day after she first met Musk, Balajadia sat her down in a “quiet corner” of Twitter headquarters and told her, “Elon is a very special guy, and as someone who is going to be close to him, your job is to help take care of him, protect him, to make things go well for him.”
Per the book, he added, “The world is going to want to get in through you, and you need to be really careful from now on.”
Representatives for Balajadia at the Boring Company did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Crawford, who is well-known for a viral image of her sleeping on the floor of X HQ, is the company’s former director of product management. Crawford was identified as one of Musk’s top lieutenants after he took over the company and was put in charge of the company’s subscription service, Twitter Blue.
She was laid off in February, something she later called “the best gift” she’d ever received.
In a video posted to X in July, Crawford said Musk was “living in an echo chamber” surrounded by “yes men.” She said it “frustrated” her that Musk often relied on his gut instinct to make business decisions.
She praised other aspects of Musk’s leadership, saying he was funny, oddly charming, and that she’d learned a lot from him.
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