Elon Musk’s drug use has worried executives and board members at businesses he runs, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the billionaire and the companies.

Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, often at private parties, the Journal said, citing unnamed witnesses and others with knowledge of the matter. People close to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO told the newspaper his drug use is ongoing, and this includes the regular use of ketamine. Musk said in August he has a prescription to use the drug as an antidepressant.

Musk, 52, didn’t respond to the Journal’s requests for comment. Alex Spiro, an attorney for the billionaire, told the newspaper that his client is “regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test”, and referred to “false facts” in the article but didn’t detail them.

Musk’s public use of marijuana with podcaster Joe Rogan in September 2018 led the Pentagon to review the federal security clearance tied to his role as CEO of SpaceX, which is certified to launch military spy satellites.

Musk responded to the WSJ article on X on Sunday: “After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at Nasa’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing. Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol.”

SpaceX is now the only US company approved to transport Nasa astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The Pentagon has stepped up purchases of launches from the closely held company in recent years, and in June contracted with its satellite communications business Starlink to support Ukraine’s military.

Frustration

The Journal reported that Linda Johnson Rice, who became a Tesla director in 2017, didn’t stand for reelection two years later out of frustration with Musk’s behaviour and her concerns about his drug use.

Read: X now valued at less than a third Musk paid for it

Musk oversees six companies: Tesla, SpaceX and X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter; the tunnelling venture The Boring Co; brain implant developer Neuralink; and artificial intelligence start-up xAI. His $219.4-billion makes him the world’s richest person. — Craig Trudell, (c) 2024 Bloomberg LP