Elon Musk fired back after a report claimed his illegal drug use at parties worried executives and board members of his companies, saying “not even trace quantities” of drugs were found in his system during three years of random testing.
“After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing,” Musk shared to X on Sunday, referencing his now-infamous 2018 appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where he smoked marijuana on camera with the host, which triggered backlash that sent Tesla’s stock price plummeting by as much as 9%.
The 52-year-old richest person in the world didn’t deny having used illegal drugs in the past. But in a subsequent X post on Monday, Musk said: “If drugs actually helped improve my net productivity over time, I would definitely take them!”
Musk expressed a similar sentiment to his biographer, Walter Isaacson, who released the biography, titled “Elon Musk,” in September.
He told Isaacson that “SpaceX was a NASA contractor, and they are big believers in the law.”
“Fortunately, I really don’t like doing illegal drugs,” Musk is quoted as saying in the book.
Isaacson also divulged that Musk is prone to “demon-like” outbursts at work in which he lashes out at employees and executives and can “hardly remember” what happened afterward.
According to the Wall Street Journal, executives across Musk’s portfolio of companies have raised concerns that the billionaire’s “unhinged” and “cringeworthy” behavior comes from his use of cocaine, LSD, ecstasy and ketamine, all of which are illegal to possess without a prescription.
Senior figures were also concerned Musk may have been on drugs when he suddenly tweeted that in 2018, he was planning to take Tesla private, sparking an SEC prone into whether the statement was misleading or false, people familiar with the matter told The Journal.
And at a party he hosted in Los Angeles that same year, he supposedly took several tabs of acid, The Journal reported.
Also in 2018, Musk was reportedly on drugs during a media interview, during which he got emotional describing how difficult his past year had been, according to the paper, citing someone close to the father of 11.
Musk, meanwhile, has attributed his strange behavior to mental illness and lack of sleep from obsessively overseeing his companies.
He confirmed in 2017 that he has bipolar disorder, which can cause dramatic mood swings, but said he has not been diagnosed.
When The Post sought comment from The Journal, a spokesperson said: “We stand by our reporting.”
Representatives for Musk at X, SpaceX and Tesla did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
However, Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, also told The Journal that his client is “regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test.”
Spiro reportedly added in his response to The Journal’s list of detailed questions that “there are other false facts” in this article, but failed to elaborate further.
The Post has also sought comment from Spiro.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
