Tesla, Space X and Co.
LSD with the CEO: Musk’s board members feel pressure to take drugs with him
Tesla boss Elon Musk at an event in Poland in January 2024
© Imago Images
Elon Musk’s drug use continues to make headlines. The supervisory boards of his six companies have so far held back from criticism. Instead of resistance, there seems to be more internal pressure to take part.
At Tesla and SpaceX in particular, people are very aware of Musk’s apparently increasing drug consumption – even at the supervisory board level. But instead of checking his suitability as CEO, people there seem to be more inclined to join in themselves. This is reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing numerous sources in the management ranks of several of Musk’s companies.
Medicine and party drug
According to eyewitnesses, Musk has established an increasing culture of drug use in recent years. He repeatedly went to parties or trips with supervisory board members and board members, where drugs such as cocaine, LSD, ecstasy or ketamine were consumed – even in large quantities.
Musk doesn’t even make a secret about his use of ketamine. Musk explained on Twitter in the summer that he had been prescribed small doses of the sedative to combat his depression. At parties, he is said to have consumed significantly larger doses of intoxicants using an inhaler, witnesses reported.
Drug culture on the board of directors
But it’s not just Musk who takes drugs. There is a real expectation in the multi-billionaire’s inner circle that people would also consume, several witnesses told the newspaper. The supervisory boards of Tesla and SpaceX also reported fears of falling out of Musk’s favor if they refused the intoxicants offered.
In addition to Musk, his business partners and former and current supervisory board members Steve Jurvetson, Antonio Gracias and his brother Kimbal Musk, who is also on the Tesla supervisory board, are said to have regularly taken illegal drugs, eyewitnesses reported to the newspaper.
Proximity to the supervisory board
It is well known that Musk does not draw particularly sharp lines between colleagues and private life. He repeatedly fills management positions with long-time companions and spends after-work and vacations with business partners.
This is being viewed increasingly critically on Wall Street. Above all, the close proximity to the supervisory boards of his companies is a thorn in the side of some shareholders. The suspicion: Due to their close proximity to Musk, the actually neutral members of the supervisory board would not be sufficiently successful in taming Musk, who is often difficult and idiosyncratic. Supervisory board members who actually behave neutrally or even critically towards Musk usually hold their position for a much shorter period of time.
Close connections
In addition to the common drug use, the unusually close financial ties between some supervisory board members and board members are also viewed critically. Jurvetson and Gracias, as well as investors Ira Ehrenpreis, James Murdoch and Larry Ellison, are linked in a veritable network of mutual investments. At Tesla there is another component: Because the car company primarily pays its supervisory board members in shares – another unusual approach – the supervisory board members have sometimes earned a fortune from the Musk company with the steeply rising share price.
This is currently causing trouble with the supervisory authorities. A court in Delaware decided last week to block Musk’s extremely generous pay package that the board of directors approved in 2018. The decision-making processes behind the package were burdened by “serious deficiencies,” and Musk’s close ties to the supervisory boards did not allow them to make the necessary neutral decisions about him, the court said. Musk played far too big a role in deciding his own pay.
Worry about your immediate surroundings
Musk’s drug use is also being viewed increasingly critically – even in those around him. Larry Ellison, Oracle founder, former Tesla supervisory board member and self-described “very close friend” of Musk, had already expressed fears in 2022 that the Tesla boss’s drug use was getting out of control, according to the newspaper. Ellison invited Musk to his villa in Hawaii to relax and sober up from the stress of work. Even a withdrawal was suggested in Musk’s environment. But without success.
Musk himself explained through his lawyer that he would undergo regular drug tests and had never failed them. The reason for the practice was an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, in which Musk consumed marijuana in front of the public in 2018.
Overrated
Musk apparently has no plans to withdraw from the management of his companies. Recently, on the contrary, he had tried to gain even more power. If he doesn’t receive a 25 percent share, he would rather advance his AI projects at another company, as he recently tried to blackmail the Tesla supervisory board.
Musk’s behavior is little appreciated in the industry. In a survey, decision-makers at large US corporations were asked to decide which company boss was the most capable. Musk came in first place by a wide margin – in the “most overrated CEO” category.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, Fortune