Elon Musk’s ‘unhinged’ behaviour raised concerns about drug use among SpaceX executives: WSJ

‘Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol’ in random drug testing, Mr Musk said after the piece ran in the Journal

SpaceX executives have begun wondering whether the “unhinged” behaviour of the company’s founder — Elon Musk — has been driven by drugs, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Mr Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms — typically at parties, for years. Some unnamed sources who told the Journal about Mr Musk’s alleged drug use have apparently attended parties with him, where they sign non-disclosure agreements or ditch their phones before entry.

The paper previously reported that the world’s wealthiest person takes ketamine — a drug which Mr Musk himself described on X as sometimes “a better option” for treating depression than SSRIs.

Individuals close to Mr Musk told the Journal that they fear his drug use could be damaging to his health and his many businesses.

The SpaceX founder previously was criticised by NASA, with whom SpaceX works, after videos surfaced of Mr Musk smoking marijuana and drinking whiskey on Joe Rogan’s podcast in 2018. Since the company has a contract with the government agency, it has to adhere to a federal drug-free workplace policy.

Mr Musk took to X to respond to the paper’s claims, writing: “After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing. Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol.”

An attorney for Musk, Alex Spiro, told the outlet that his client is “regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test.” The Independent has reached out to Mr Musk, Mr Spiro and SpaceX for comment.

Concerns around the billionaire’s drug habits came to a head in 2017 when Mr Musk took the floor at a SpaceX meeting to discuss the company’s new rocket. “He slurred his words and rambled for around 15 minutes,” the outlet wrote, prompting the president of the company to take command of the meeting.

Although the paper didn’t confirm if Mr Musk was intoxicated during the meeting, SpaceX executives reportedly privately wondered whether their boss was on drugs, the outlet said. One executive called the meeting “nonsensical,” “unhinged” and “cringeworthy.”

Without elaborating, Mr Spiro told the outlet that the description of the SpaceX meeting was “false as has been confirmed by countless people who were present.”

Board members of Tesla, a public company, have also voiced their concerns about Mr Musk’s behaviour. The Journal said that the Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm approached Mr Musk’s brother Kimbal “for help with Musk’s behavior, without using the word ‘drugs.’”

If not drugs, the outlet wrote, others have wondered whether other factors could be responsible for his frequent, strange behaviour, like lack of sleep — he has admitted to sleeping at X and SpaceX offices — or mental health — he has claimed to have depression and bipolar disorder — or something else entirely.