Elon Musk says he wasn't on drugs during chaotic SpaceX event — just really tired

Elon Musk said he was “running on very little sleep” during the 2017 presentation. AP

Elon Musk says tiredness rather than drugs led to a chaotic presentation at a SpaceX event.
The WSJ reported that a 2017 presentation by Musk sparked concerns that Musk was on drugs.
SpaceX released a video of what appears to be the source of the concerns.

Elon Musk said sleep deprivation, not drugs, led to a chaotic presentation at a 2017 SpaceX event.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that a “strangely incomprehensible” 2017 SpaceX presentation given by Musk sparked concerns that the billionaire was on drugs.

The Journal reported that SpaceX executives privately talked about their concerns that Musk was on drugs after the event. However, the outlet reported said it could not confirm if Musk was under the influence that day.

In an X post, Tesla investor Sawyer Merritt included a recording released by SpaceX that appeared to be the source of some of the concerns around Musk’s alleged drug use. Merritt said in the post that The Journal had “suggested Elon may have been on drugs during this private all-hands company talk in 2017, and at times incomprehensible.”

Responding to the post, Musk appeared to confirm it was the same presentation, saying: “I was running on very little sleep for several days due to extreme work requirements. Worth noting that Tesla was very close to bankruptcy in 2017.”

Representatives for The Wall Street Journal and Musk did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

Elon Musk has publicly responded to claims he uses illegal drugs, saying three years of random testing failed to find any trace of illegal substances. The Tesla CEO also slammed The Journal’s report publicly on X.

In a statement previously provided to BI, a spokesperson for the Journal said: “We stand by our reporting.”

Musk has previously said NASA tested SpaceX employees for drugs after he infamously smoked weed on a podcast with Joe Rogan. The space agency reportedly paid $5 million for a probe into drug use at SpaceX after the incident, although the results are still unknown.

Musk has also reportedly admitted to taking small doses of ketamine for depression.