Foreign media has once again exposed the Musk drug scandal, but analysis suggests that this will not cause investor concerns.
On February 3rd local time, foreign media reported that among several current and former directors of Tesla and SpaceX, Tesla CEO Elon Musk's use of illegal drugs is well-known, and some directors also use drugs with him.
According to insiders cited in the report, Musk has also created peer pressure among his business partners and friends, encouraging them to use illegal drugs. Some friends and directors believe that they must take illegal drugs together with Musk, otherwise they may "lose social capital in Musk's circle.".
The report also emphasized that Tesla's board of directors did not investigate Musk's drug abuse issue and did not document any concerns about it.
This report once again puts Tesla's board in a dilemma.
On January 30th local time, a judge of the Delaware Court of Justice ruled that Musk's $56 billion (approximately RMB 400 billion) salary plan was invalid. The judge fiercely criticized the relationship between Musk and the Tesla board, stating that the Tesla board was composed of many people closely related to Musk and there were a series of conflicting interests, and Musk could be said to have "controlled the Tesla board.".
In fact, foreign media have long been in conflict with Musk regarding the drug scandal.
According to Global Times, the Wall Street Journal reported on January 6th local time that Musk is believed to "frequently use drugs," which has raised concerns about his company's operations. The Wall Street Journal reported that according to witnesses of Musk's drug use and other informed sources, Musk often takes drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy at private gatherings around the world. Participants must sign confidentiality agreements or surrender their phones before entering. The report states that Musk had previously smoked marijuana in public.
According to reports, people close to Musk have revealed that he has been using drugs for a long time, especially ketamine (commonly known as "K powder"), which they are concerned may trigger a health crisis for Musk. Even if there is no serious impact on his health, it will still cause damage to his business. The report also stated that illegal drug use is likely to violate federal regulations in the United States, which could jeopardize SpaceX's billion dollar contract with the US government.
As early as June last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk suffered from depression and was treated with low-dose ketamine. Ketamine is a commonly used anesthetic and a regulated psychotropic drug, commonly known as K-powder. Musk did not directly respond to this report, but instead tweeted that antidepressants can turn people into zombies, and occasionally taking ketamine is a better option.
Regarding this, Musk refuted rumors on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that he conducted a three-year randomized drug test in accordance with NASA's requirements and never found any trace amounts of drugs or alcohol.
Later, Musk sent a reply to the media, saying, "After taking a sip on Rogan's program, I agreed to conduct a three-year random drug test as required by NASA, and never found any trace of drugs or alcohol. The Wall Street Journal is not even qualified to use birds in parrot cages as toilet paper."
According to analysts, Tesla is facing another controversy over the personal life of its CEO, but investors are not worried about it.
Gene Munster, a partner at Deepwater Asset Management, said in an interview that most Tesla investors are unlikely to be interested in the report. "Most investors don't even care because if you want to make money from Musk, you have to endure his controversy."
Dan Ives, an analyst at the US investment bank Wedbush, said that rumors of Musk's drug abuse are certainly not good news for investors, but it will not have a substantial impact.