Elon Musk dismisses claims drug use is causing alarm at Tesla and SpaceX

Elon Musk has denied reports claiming that his alleged drug use is “causing alarm” among executives and board members of his companies.

Musk, 52, is said to have taken a range of illegal mind-altering substances, including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and magic mushrooms, according to an extensive report in The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corporation, the parent company of The Times.

The article paints a picture of drug-taking at hedonistic parties in glamorous locations around the world, attended by sources who alleged that they had signed non-disclosure agreements in which they swore not to discuss Musk’s drug use.

Ketamine is his drug of choice, according to the Journal, with sources saying they were concerned that his drug use could harm his businesses or his health.

The newspaper recounts that Musk appeared at a public SpaceX meeting slurring and incomprehensible, leading to unsubstantiated speculation that he was taking drugs.

In response Musk, who has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, and has trouble sleeping, posted on X/Twitter early on Monday morning: “TMZ has vastly higher standards than the WSJ (actually).” He was comparing the American business newspaper unfavourablywith the tabloid news organisation famous for covering celebrity gossip and scandal.

The reports are significant because Musk is a hands-on entrepreneur whose business and personal lives are heavily entwined. Furthermore, SpaceX works closely with Nasa, the American space agency, and the Pentagon and drug use could jeopardise these contracts.

Musk’s drug-taking is said to be affecting his business relationships. Linda Johnson Rice, a former Tesla director, was so concerned about his habit and volatile behaviour that she did not stand for re-election to the board of the electric car company, according to the Journal, quoting sources.

This is not the first time that reports have appeared about the state of Musk’s mental health and drug use. In 2018 the billionaire did a long interview with The New York Times under the headline Elon Musk Details Excruciating Personal Toll of Tesla Turmoil. It sent Tesla shares down 9 per cent.

In a subsequent effort to quash speculation that there was alarm around his health, he joined the Joe Rogan podcast, where he appeared to take a puff of a joint that the interviewer offered him after being told that smoking marijuana was “totally legal” because they were in California. Images from the studio went viral and Tesla’s share price fell again.

In a recent biography of Musk by Walter Isaacson, the SpaceX owner said this event had resulted in Nasa, a key customer, subjecting him to “random drug tests for a couple of years”. He added: “Fortunately, I really don’t like doing illegal drugs.”

Alex Spiro, one of Musk’s lawyers, reiterated this point in response to the latest allegations in the Journal and told the newspaper that Musk was “regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test”. He added that there were “other false facts” in the article.

There are innumerable examples of the businessman’s erratic and unpredictable behaviour. On one occasion, he announced that he was taking Tesla private on Twitter, flouting US financial market regulations and landing him with a $20 million fine. After he committed to buying Twitter, he tried to wriggle out of the deal, almost culminating in a court case. He eventually won a defamation case in which he called a British caver who helped in the rescue of trapped Thai boys a “pedo guy”.

Tesla shares rose 1.3 per cent, or $2.96, to close at $240.45 in New York.