Elon Musk disclosed that he is “almost always” sober during his late-night — or, in some cases, very early morning — posting sessions on his social media platform, X.
In an interview with journalist Don Lemon, the billionaire Tesla CEO addressed his use of the medication ketamine. Musk, renowned for his occasionally erratic behavior, faced scrutiny amid recent reports regarding his purported drug use and its potential implications for his companies.
“There are times when I have sort of a … negative chemical state in my brain, like depression I guess, or depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of the negative frame of mind,” Musk told Lemon.
Musk added that he has a prescription for the drug from “an actual, real doctor” and uses “a small amount once every other week or something like that.”
Although Musk clarified that he abstains from drinking and doesn’t “know how to smoke pot,” he didn’t specify whether his sober state during late-night posts extends to ketamine or another substance.
Previously, Musk has openly discussed his prescription use of ketamine on X. Ketamine, primarily utilized as an anesthetic in hospitals, is increasingly under investigation as a prospective treatment for depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.
Musk’s remarks provide deeper understanding into the utilization of this drug by one of the globe’s most affluent and influential figures.
Musk denied that he overuses the medication, saying,
“If you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done. I have a lot of work, I’m typically putting in 16-hour days … so I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time.”
Musk expressed his belief that his depression is genetic and asserted that he doesn’t anticipate his ketamine use to affect his companies or their government contracts.
“From a standpoint of Wall Street, what matters is execution,” he said. “Are you building value for investors? Tesla is worth about as much as the rest of the car industry combined … so from an investor standpoint, if there is something I’m taking, I should keep taking it.”
The extensive 90-minute interview between Musk and Lemon, which sparked a feud and led to the termination of a proposed deal for X to financially support Lemon’s new streaming show on the platform, delved into various topics beyond Musk’s ketamine use.
These included Musk’s critiques of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, as well as the demand for Tesla’s Cybertruck.
Advertisers On X
Musk also addressed the state of the core advertising business on X, formerly known as Twitter, which has faced challenges since his acquisition due to a surge in hateful and controversial content.
Musk’s earlier response to advertisers departing X over concerns about antisemitic content was sharply critical, stating they could “go f**k yourself” and attributing their actions to the platform’s decline.
During the interview with Lemon, Musk noted that almost all of the company’s advertisers have returned, stating,
“It’s a very short list of advertisers who are not coming back to the platform, and our advertising revenue is rising rapidly and our subscription revenue is rising rapidly and I feel very optimistic about the future of the X platform.”
Nevertheless, Musk seemed disinterested in altering X’s policies to accommodate departing advertisers.
“You can choose where you want your advertising, what you want your advertiser to appear next to, but you can’t insist on censorship of the entire platform,” he remarked.
“If you insist on censorship of the entire platform, even where your advertising doesn’t appear, then obviously we will not want them as an advertiser.”
