Depression: Elon Musk (pictured) defended his prescribed ketamine use, arguing it had no impact on his leadership.
Elon Musk has said his use of ketamine is in the best interests of shareholders, while pushing back against criticism. The world’s third richest man has defended his prescribed use of the drug, arguing it had no impact on his leadership.
“From an investor’s point of view, if there’s something I’m taking, I should continue to take it,” he said in an interview with Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor. Musk said “what matters is execution” for Wall Street investors, citing the electric car maker’s continued success.
Tesla has a market capitalization of £412 billion, but its shares have fallen by a third since the start of this year.
In January, Musk warned that Tesla’s auto production would decline this year as the company reported a sharp decline in profits.
He also runs satellite company SpaceX and social media company X, formerly known as Twitter.
When asked if he abused the drug, Musk replied, “I don’t think so.” If you take too much ketamine, you can’t really work, and I have a lot of work.
Musk said he used ketamine when he had a “negative chemical state” in his brain “like depression.”
His comments follow recent reports that executives at the CEO’s companies Tesla and SpaceX had become concerned about his drug use.
At the time, his legal team said Musk was regularly and randomly subjected to drug tests at his satellite company SpaceX and had never failed a test.
