Whiff of Tesla profits going up in smoke as Elon Musk puffs cannabis on web radio show
ELON MUSK prompted further anxiety among Tesla shareholders yesterday after smoking cannabis during a live radio web show with Joe Rogan, the comedian.
The billionaire entrepreneur smoked the joint in a two-and-a-half-hour interview during which he discussed everything from artificial intelligence to flame throwers and social media.
Shares of Tesla Inc, Mr Musk’s electric car company, suffered a 10per cent drop in value yesterday, its worst day on the stock market since June 2016.
“I’m not a regular smoker of weed,” Mr Musk said during his interview, which was live on Youtube. “I don’t actually notice any effect... i don’t find that it is very good for productivity. It’s like a cup of coffee in reverse,” he added.
Mr Musk, who is chief executive of Tesla and Spacex, the rocket-building company, compared the inside of his head to “a never-ending explosion” with ideas constantly whizzing around, saying he finds it “very hard” to switch off. “I don’t think you’d necessarily want to be me,” he added.
His erratic behaviour has already raised concerns among investors, including an emotional interview with The New York Times last month in which he revealed he takes Ambien, the prescription drug, to help him sleep. Just hours after the show, Dave Morton, Tesla’s chief accounting officer, resigned, citing discomfort with the level of public attention on the company. Tesla said Mr Morton, who had only been in the post a month, had no disagreements with Tesla’s leadership or financial reporting.
Separately, Bloomberg reported that Gaby Toledano, the human resources chief, was leaving the company.
Mr Musk, 47, also stunned investors a month ago by announcing in a tweet that he had funding to take the company private for $420 per share. He then backed off from his plan, saying Tesla was better off as a public company.
He is also facing potential legal action from Vernon Unsworth, the British cave diver, who Mr Musk accused of being a paedophile after he derided his offer to help rescue a group of boys trapped in a cave in Thailand.
During his radio appearance on Thursday, Mr Musk also played with a flame thrower and said his efforts to merge the human brain with machines were making good progress.