The Wall Street Journal reports heavy concerns about Elon Musk. Brilliant, ill (suffering from bipolar disorder and Asperger's syndrome), stressed (from overwork and very little sleep): the South African-Canadian-American tycoon and his fans have offered various explanations for his contrarian views, his unfiltered speeches, and his provocations or oddities. But in recent years, several executives and board members of his companies and other people close to the world's richest man have developed a persistent concern that there is another component driving his behavior: the use of drugs, including illegal ones, starting from 2017. And they fear that such consumption by the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX could have consequences not only for his health but also for the six companies and billions of assets he oversees, including X, the former Twitter.
The Wall Street Journal reveals the fears of managers and shareholders of his empire. According to people who have witnessed his drug use and others who are aware of it, Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms, often during private parties around the world, where participants sign confidentiality agreements or give up their cell phones to enter.
In 2018, for example, he took several LSD tablets at a party in Los Angeles. That same year he smoked marijuana in public on the Joe Rogan show. The following year he celebrated with 'magic mushrooms' at an event in Mexico. In 2021, he used ketamine recreationally with his brother, Kimbal Musk, in Miami at a house party during Art Basel. According to the WSJ, he also used illegal drugs with Steve Jurvetson, former Tesla board member and current SpaceX board member.
A problem that in 2019 led then Tesla executive Linda Johnson Rice not to run for the board again. Some believe he was under the influence of drugs when in 2018 he tweeted his plans to privatize Tesla, prompting an SEC investigation. People close to Musk, who is now 52, assure that his drug use continues, particularly the consumption of ketamine, which he claims to take against depression with an 'off label' medical prescription.
While his lawyer Alex Spiro assures that Musk is 'regularly and randomly subjected to drug tests at SpaceX and has never failed one'. Illegal drug use, in addition to breaking SpaceX and Tesla's 'policies', would probably also be a violation of federal policies that could jeopardize SpaceX's billions of dollars in government contracts with NASA (it is the only US company authorized to transport astronauts to the ISS) and the Pentagon (which buys rockets and uses its satellite networks). Not to mention that Musk, as CEO and founder of SpaceX, has clearance for classified information related to national security. Musk is an integral part of the value of his companies, potentially putting at risk about a trillion dollars in assets, tens of thousands of jobs, and much of the US space program. So far, investors have always discussed his drug use in private and turned a blind eye to the extraordinary results of recent years. But now they may no longer hide their fears.
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