New Delhi, Sept. 30 -- Elon Musk's sprawling business empire is seeing a wave of senior departures. Financial Times spoke with over a dozen current and former employees who say relentless work hours and political friction are driving exits. Key figures in Tesla's US sales, battery and power-train units, public affairs, and CIO role have all left. Core members of the Optimus robotics and AI teams, central to Musk's vision, have also moved on.

At xAI, Musk's two-year-old AI start-up merged with X in March, and the churn has been faster. Its CFO and general counsel quit within a week of each other after short stints.

Some departures were voluntary after long service, for start-ups or personal breaks. But a noticeable number left citing bur...