(NewsNation) — Some Tesla board members felt pressure to do illegal drugs with CEO Elon Musk for fear that not doing so could infuriate him, the Wall Street Journal reported this weekend.
The financial newspaper detailed the connections between Musk and several current and former board members in a report following up on a previous one in January about Musk's alleged drug use that had worried executives and investors.
Musk denied the initial allegations about drug use and said he has never tested positive in three years of undergoing random drug testing.
“After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing,” Musk wrote on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. “Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol.”
Though in the past they chalked up his “contrarian views, unfiltered speech and provocative antics” to sleep deprivation, stress or as an “expression of his creativity,” in recent years, executives and board members have become concerned these are actually because Musk uses drugs, the January Journal story reported.
Now, these executives are nervous that Musk’s drug use could have consequences for his health and his companies, especially SpaceX and Tesla.
According to the recent Saturday report, Steve Jurvetson, Antonio Gracias and Kimbal Musk have consumed drugs with him. The Journal cited people who have witnessed the drug use and others with knowledge of it.
Jurvetson and Gracias are former Tesla board members but currently sit on the board of SpaceX, also owned by Musk.
People with knowledge of the information described to the Journal a culture created by Musk where they feel there is an expectation to consume drugs because not doing so could upset him. They also said there is fear of losing the social capital that comes with knowing Musk.
As the Journal points out, using illegal drugs could put SpaceX’s billions of dollars in government contracts at risk. At one point in 2018, Musk smoked marijuana while on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in 2018, leading to NASA demanding “assurances” SpaceX was a drug-free workplace, Forbes reported. Forbes also noted Musk has admitted in the past to taking ketamine to treat his depression.