Elon Musk has questioned the San Francisco mayor’s “priorities” after he claimed the city was more concerned about Twitter workers sleeping in the office than children accidentally overdosing.
The Twitter owner’s outburst comes after a controversy over a bedroom that appeared at the social media site’s office in the northwestern California city.
According to Forbes magazine, the “pathetic little conference room” has been installed.
It added that the accommodation featured “unmade mattresses” and “drab curtains”.
It was perhaps expected after Musk told Twitter employees they needed jobs “Long-term high-intensity”.
“Going forward, we’re going to need to be very stubborn to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0 and succeed in an increasingly competitive world,” he told them.
“It will mean working long hours at a high level of intensity. Only outstanding performance will constitute a passing grade.”
Last month, Twitter employee Esther Crawford said: “When your team is working around the clock to meet deadlines, sometimes you sleep where you work“
Musk appeared to confirm the bedroom’s existence after local media reported the matter.
He tweeted: “So the City of San Francisco Attack on company that provides beds for tired workers Instead of making sure kids stay away from fentanyl. Where are London Breed Mayor’s priorities! ? “
He attached an article from the San Francisco Chronicle about a 10-month-old baby who accidentally overdosed on fentanyl on the playground.
Paramedics administered an overdose of reversal medication and the young man was released from hospital, the paper added.
Ms Breed’s spokeswoman, Parisa Safarzadeh, said the mayor’s office was investigating but “fortunately, the fatal incident was averted due to the quick response (of emergency services),” the newspaper reported. “.
The bed apparently showed up at Twitter’s San Francisco office
Forbes magazine said San Francisco’s building inspection department is investigating complaints about the bedrooms.
It quoted Patrick Hannan, the department’s director of communications, as saying: “We need to ensure that buildings are being used as intended.”
On Wednesday, Musk briefly lost his title as the world’s richest man, according to Forbes.
He was said to have been briefly replaced by Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury brand Louis Vuitton parent LVMH, and his family.
Musk’s brief dip in stature was due to a sharp drop in the value of his Tesla stake and the $44 billion he spent on Twitter.