Elon Fires Disabled Twitter Employee, Biden's TikTok Bill & More Tech News (#429)

Shaan recaps a public Twitter back-and-forth where an employee who said he lost access to his work tools for nine days asked Elon Musk publicly if he was fired, and Shaan argues the situation showed poor management and a lack of basic decency in how separations were handled.

Shaan says Elon escalated the situation by questioning the employee’s work output and publicly suggesting the employee “claimed” a disability, which Shaan and Sam characterize as cruel and inappropriate—especially once the employee described having muscular dystrophy and responded in detail.

Shaan notes a rumor spread that the employee had a “$100 million payout,” then explains how it appeared to originate from a single person estimating deal math that others repeated, using it as an example of how quickly unverified claims become “facts” online.

In discussing newer research, Sam summarizes that happiness tends to rise with income up to at least $500,000 in the data he read, with a plateau only for the unhappiest group around $100,000, and both hosts say the older “$70,000 plateau” claim always sounded wrong to them.

Sam gives a concrete example—being able to pay an unexpected medical bill without stress—and both hosts describe financial security (like “braces money”) as a real contributor to well-being.