Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., has recently been under scrutiny for his alleged drug use and erratic behavior according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The report cites concerns raised by Linda Johnson Rice, a former director at Tesla, who chose not to seek re-election to the board due to Musk’s unpredictable conduct and substance use.
Rice, who served on Tesla’s board until 2019, reportedly voiced her apprehensions about Musk’s drug use to fellow board members on several occasions. She even informally suggested that the board investigate Musk’s alleged consumption of substances like ketamine, LSD, cocaine and ecstasy. However, her concerns were not addressed.
The report also revisits Musk’s 2018 tweet about having “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 a share, a move that significantly impacted Tesla’s stock price and led to a $40 million SEC fine. Musk, who has publicly admitted to occasional microdosing of ketamine, did not confess any wrongdoing.
Musk’s drug use, including a notorious weed-smoking session on Joe Rogan’s podcast, led NASA to conduct a safety review of SpaceX and require drug tests for the entire company for a year.
Despite these allegations, Alex Spiro, Musk’s attorney, stated that he is “regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test.”
If there is any validity to the alleged drug use, Musk previously confirmed he has bouts with bipolar disorder, depression and Asperger’s.