Elon Musk's drug use has worried executives and board members of the companies he runs, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the billionaire and the companies.
Musk often used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms at private parties, the Journal reported, citing unnamed witnesses and other people familiar with the matter. People close to the CEO of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX told the newspaper that he uses drugs all the time, and that he uses ketamine in particular. Musk said in August he had a prescription for using the drug as an antidepressant.
After Musk smoked a marijuana-laced blunt on Joe Rogan's podcast in September 2018, the Pentagon reviewed the federal security clearance associated with his role as CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. which is certified to launch military spy satellites, Bloomberg News first reported in March 2019.
“After that one move with Rogan, I agreed to conduct random drug testing for three years at NASA’s request,” Musk, 52, posted Sunday on X, the social media company he owns. “Not even traces of drugs or alcohol were found.”
Musk did not respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg News. Alex Spiro, a lawyer for the billionaire, told the Journal that his client is “regularly and randomly tested for drugs at SpaceX and has never failed a test” and referred to “false facts” in the article but did not elaborate .
SpaceX is now the only US company approved to transport NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The Pentagon has also stepped up purchases of launch vehicles from the closely linked company in recent years, inking a deal in June with Starlink, SpaceX's satellite communications company, to support the Ukrainian military.
The Journal reported that Linda Johnson Rice, who became Tesla director in 2017, did not run for re-election two years later out of frustration with Musk's behavior and her concerns about his drug use.
Musk oversees six companies: Tesla, SpaceX and X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter; tunneling company The Boring Co; brain implant developer Neuralink; and artificial intelligence startup xAI. His net worth of $219.4 billion ranks No. 1 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
