““If drugs actually helped improve my net productivity over time, I would definitely take them!””
That was businessman and inventor Elon Musk responding on his X platform, to an article by The Wall Street Journal that discussed alleged illegal drug use by the Tesla CEO.
Shares of Tesla
TSLA,
fell around 1% in premarket trading, against the backdrop of weaker overall markets.
Citing sources, the article that published on Saturday said Musk had used cocaine, ketamine, psychedelic mushrooms and other substances, and that some board members were worried about potential problems for his health and the empire he watches over.
Musk responded to one X user whose mother told him about Italian news stations reporting nonstop about the drug allegations. The billionaire cracked that meanwhile, he was successfully leading “Tesla to be the world’s most valuable car company” and SpaceX “the most valuable space company.”
“Whatever I’m doing, I should just keep doing it,” he said.
Musk didn’t respond to The Wall Street Journal story at the time of reporting, but the article quoted his attorney Alex Spiro, who said the executive had been “regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test.” Spiro also said the story contained “other false facts,” without providing details.
Another X user joked that he would “have whatever you’re having! Who’s your dealer? lol.”
“If drugs actually helped improve my net productivity over time, I would definitely take them!” Musk responded.
The world’s wealthiest man, who was worth $219 billion as of Monday, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, also made a swipe at The Wall Street Journal, saying on X: “TMZ has vastly higher standards than the WSJ (actually).”
TMZ is a tabloid publication that is owned by Fox Corp.
FOX,
which shares common ownership with Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch parent News Corp.
NWS,
Tesla shares had a blockbuster year in 2023, though Musk himself was under pressure as his X platform lost several high-profile advertisers such as Walt Disney Co.
DIS,
and Apple Inc.
AAPL,
over inflammatory comments by the executive and concerns over increasing prevalence of extremist content and disinformation on X.
Some have worried at times that Tesla could suffer spillover brand damage.
