Tesla and SpaceX executives concerned that Elon Musk is ‘high’ on something

There was a time when Elon Musk was seen as a real-life Tony Stark, a cool and wealthy inventor making the impossible real. Nowadays, the South Africa-born billionaire feels more like a ridiculous comic book villain in the making.

From poor attempts at entrepreneurial showmanship and posting strange social media posts in the middle of the night to erratic business decisions such as buying Twitter on a whim. Many people are wondering what’s going on with the wealthiest man in the world.

However, apart from his fans and haters, others are also concerned and speculating about Elon Musk’s peculiar behavior. According to the Wall Street Journal, the executives at Tesla and SpaceX are deeply worried about the antics of their founder and CEO.

Specifically, the upper management at Musk’s companies believe that his strange, wildly changing conduct is due to the abuse of illegal substances, including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and mushrooms.

Their biggest concern? That the behavior of the wealthiest man in the world could ultimately harm the companies he founded.

Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center for corporate governance at the University of Delaware, told Fortune Magazine about the implications Musk’s performance under the influence could have for his company.

“Any time you take a substance that impairs your judgment, that is a problem for any company”, Elson explains to Fortune. “If they are paying [Musk] to be a CEO 24-7—which they are—then anything that significantly impairs judgment is a problem.”

In 2018, during an interview with Joe Rogan, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX had no problem sharing consuming tobacco laced with weed on camera, which prompted the Pentagon to review his security clearance.

Image: PowerfulJRE / YouTube

CNBC explains that Musk’s drug use could not only go against the policy of his own companies, but it could also be the cause of ending federal contracts.

According to The Wall Street Journal, executives were also worried that Musk was under the influence when he tweeted that he would make Tesla private for 420 US dollars a share, 420 being a number used as a code for marijuana.

Musk’s pothead humor led to a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation and costed 40 million US dollars in fines.

Musk has also confessed on X (previously known as Twitter) that he’s a ketamine user, allegedly having a prescription to deal with depression and “negative thoughts”.

According to Bloomberg, Musk’s consumption is no surprise and has been something of an open secret, mostly going on in private parties.

However, Bloomberg highlights that, after the Joe Rogan incident, Musk affirms that he’s been subjected to random drug tests and so far, has never failed any of them.

Fortune highlights that Elon Musk is hardly the only CEO to tangle into substance abuse. In fact, some high-profile figures in Silicon Valley praise the use of so-called mind-expanding drugs to break down their mental barriers.

According to US Department of Health data, one in four Americans aged 12 or over confessed using illicit substances in 2022. However, one probably would expect more from such a high-profile billionaire and tech entrepreneur.