Copyright © BusinessAMBE 2023

This weekend, an investigation by the Wall Street Journal caused a stir in the United States. Executives of SpaceX and Tesla expressed concern about the drug use of their CEO, Elon Musk. Musk denies all allegations.

The gist:

  • According to anonymous testimony collected by the WSJ Elon Musk is said to be a drug user. His behavior increasingly worries his colleagues at Tesla and SpaceX.
  • His lawyer and himself assure that all allegations are untrue.

The details: hard drugs at parties.

  • At the parties he attends, Musk takes many precautions to prevent any leaks. For example, guests must sign non-disclosure agreements. They are also prohibited from bringing their phones. So far, this has been sufficient to prevent tangible evidence from leaking out. But it is impossible to silence everyone.
  • So the WSJ has collected testimony indicating that Musk would use drugs. And specifically hard drugs such as LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogenic mushrooms and also ketamine.
  • These practices, in addition to being illegal and dangerous to his health, also worry members of the board of directors of SpaceX and Tesla.
    • They even warned his brother, Kimbal (who is currently at Tesla and was a member of SpaceX's board of directors until 2022), to admonish him. Without daring to say explicitly that they were concerned about his drug use. However, this had no visible effect. It is also common for even Kimbal to use drugs with his brother.

Multiple documented incidents

The (alleged) consequences: thoughtless actions.

  • To justify the concerns of Musk's colleagues, the WSJ gives some examples of decisions that were presumably made under the influence:
    • A 2017 SpaceX corporate meeting where Musk arrived an hour late and gave a completely incoherent speech. The company's chairman eventually took over the meeting.
    • An August 2018 tweet about a possible Tesla withdrawal from the stock market - which earned him sanctions from the SEC.
    • An interview with the New York Times shortly after, in which he appears to be in a blur: sometimes very euphoric, sometimes in tears.
    • An appearance with a joint in his hand on comedian Joe Rogan's podcast in 2018.
  • According to the American newspaper, this even led to the departure of former Tesla chief executive Linda Johnson Rice. She had had enough of Musk's unstable behavior.
  • Musk's behavior is all the more worrisome within SpaceX. This company is - by far - the private company that works most closely with NASA. That, as a government organization, is naturally particularly strict on discipline and especially on the use of drugs.

"No trace of drugs or alcohol," Musk replied

The responses: Musk denies everything.

  • On X, Musk assured that everything he was accused of is untrue. "After that first trek with Rogan, I agreed to 3 years of random drug testing at NASA's request," he stated. "Not a single trace of drugs or alcohol was found."
    • An assertion confirmed by his attorney, Alex Spiro. According to him, Musk is "regularly and randomly tested for drugs at SpaceX and has never failed a test."
  • Musk then used his familiar irony, proud of his successes at the head of Tesla and SpaceX. "Whatever I do, of course I have to keep doing it!" he wrote. And added: "If drugs would really help me improve my net productivity over time, I would definitely take them!"
  • Note that Musk's own companies have fairly strict anti-drug policies. With also random checks on employees with sniffer dogs at SpaceX, for example.(resume)

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