Elon Musk Denies Being on Drugs in Viral Video of His Incoherent Tesla Board Meeting
AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool, File
Elon Musk denied that he was on drugs during a 2017 SpaceX board meeting that went viral after a damning, extensive report in The Wall Street Journal about his illegal drug use.
The article, which was published on Saturday and reported by Emily Glazer and Kristen Grind, painted a picture of an increasingly drug-addled Musk who would show up to public appearances seemingly high, often “incoherent.” One such event was the much-discussed SpaceX board meeting that took place in late 2017, which was recorded on video and is available to watch on the SpaceX account on Twitter/X, which is owned by Musk.
SpaceX completed 18 successful missions in 2017, launching flight-proven rockets and spacecrafts for the first time. It was a record-setting year and we were just getting started on our path toward a more exciting future.
Watch the full company talk with @elonmusk: pic.twitter.com/L24bWkIBTf
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 9, 2024
According to the WSJ report:
Hundreds of SpaceX employees gathered around mission control at the rocket company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., in anticipation of Musk, who was nearly an hour late to arrive at the all-hands meeting about the company’s latest rocket.
When he finally took the stage, Musk was strangely incomprehensible at times. He slurred his words and rambled for around 15 minutes, according to executives in attendance, and referred repeatedly to SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket prototype, which was known as BFR, as “Big F-ing Rocket.”
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell ultimately stepped in and took over the meeting.
It couldn’t be learned if Musk was under the influence that day. But after the meeting, the SpaceX executives privately talked about their worries Musk was on drugs. One described the event as “nonsensical,” “unhinged” and “cringeworthy.”
But after midnight on Tuesday, Musk claimed his rambling appearance during that meeting was due to his “running on very little sleep for several days due to extreme work requirements.”
Yeah, I was running on very little sleep for several days due to extreme work requirements. Worth noting that Tesla was very close to bankruptcy in 2017.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2024
Musk has been open about his drug use and has used drugs publicly, including during a 2018 appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast when he smoked marijuana throughout the interview. That incident prompted a $5 million investigation by NASA into Musk’s drug use, the results of which were so redacted they were deemed inconclusive. But following that investigation, Musk was subject to random drug tests for three years, during which time the billionaire claimed: “Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol.”
