This links to the archived version. Original link is: https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1
Elon Musk and his supporters offer several explanations for his contrarian views, unfiltered speech and provocative antics. They’re an expression of his creativity. Or the result of his mental-health challenges. Or fallout from his stress, or sleep deprivation.
In recent years, some executives and board members at his companies and others close to the billionaire have developed a persistent concern that there is another component driving his behavior: his use of drugs.
And they fear the Tesla TSLA -0.18%decrease; red down pointing triangle and SpaceX chief executive’s drug use could have major consequences not just for his health, but also the six companies and billions in assets he oversees, according to people familiar with Musk and the companies.
The world’s wealthiest person has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, often at private parties around the world, where attendees sign nondisclosure agreements or give up their phones to enter, according to people who have witnessed his drug use and others with knowledge of it. Musk has previously smoked marijuana in public and has said he has a prescription for the psychedelic-like ketamine.
In 2018, for example, he took multiple tabs of acid at a party he hosted in Los Angeles. The next year he partied on magic mushrooms at an event in Mexico. In 2021, he took ketamine recreationally with his brother, Kimbal Musk, in Miami at a house party during Art Basel. He has taken illegal drugs with current SpaceX and former Tesla board member Steve Jurvetson.
Etc. etc. That should get the bulk of the summary in. Given Elon Musk’s widely known partying in Silicon Valley, as well as him acknowledging the use of both Ketamine and Ambien as party drugs, the news of harder drugs is no surprise to me at least.
Elon has denied this article, but here’s some interesting details. This one is spicy:
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.”
I don’t expect much to happen with regards to TSLA board or SpaceX board. But maybe the Feds will be forced to step in? Elon does have a top secret clearance apparently, and hard drugs are a big no-no.
I have little respect for Musk - I think he’s a horrible person - but I have some conflicting feelings on this one. I’ve never really been a recreational drug user, and don’t even drink much, but most of the ones mentioned haven’t been shown to have lasting negative effects, and I don’t really care what he does at a party. On the other hand, it shows pretty poor judgement to show up to work impaired. Also, whether or not you agree with it, using illegal drugs isn’t compatible with having a security clearance.
LSD, Cocaine, and Alcohol all have significant negative long-term effects. Even if he wasn’t taking any of the other drugs, these three are big red flags, especially in combination with the other drugs (ie: Ambien), which mix very poorly.
Its not just the effects of drugs in isolation, when you start mixing into your system like this the negative effects are multiplied.
EDIT: Maybe the other drugs have bad long term effects too. But I’m only familiar with some of these drugs. I too am not a user at all, but consider this a strange benefits to going to a party school for college. You end up meeting a bunch of people experimenting on their own bodies with this stuff.
What are the long-term negative effects of LSD?
At a minimum, my LSD-buddies (well… buddies back in school anyway, its been a decade since I’ve seen them…) warn me of long-term trips. Sometimes hitting them 6+ months long after they’ve stopped taking LSD. Obviously everyone’s biology is different, but there’s some well known long-term effects of LSD in my circles.
Trips that you cannot control are highly stressful. There’s something about embedded deeply into your body sometimes, and you’ll not necessarily be able to perform at work if one of these deeply embedded LSD-trips hits you at the wrong time.
I don’t know if panic attacks, and other stressors are necessarily related to LSD. But they are associated with getting bad trips, and getting pulled into bad trips you cannot control for months later. Heightened anxiety, etc. etc. You can really fuckup your life in the long term with LSD and the rebound effect hitting you at the wrong time.
I’m trying to be democratic here so instead of pointing out individual foibles I’ll rather point out that you’ve cited hearsay and hokum as sources for your assertions. It’s prudent to note that the effects of LSD have been studied in detail by qualified scientists so we (and you) need not rely on your high school buddies for good information on this topic, there are plenty of trustable sources for good information on this topic.
I remember hearing something about how an autistic person’s brain is effected differently though, mainly unable to go through ego-death, one of the more common experiences related to post-trip psychosis.