Tesla stock plummets after Elon Musk smokes weed on live show

[the game]

Tesla stock plunged 9 percent on Friday after a bizarre podcast in which CEO Elon Musk smoked weed and sipped whiskey, and two high-profile executives abruptly announced they were leaving the company.

Musk has found himself at the center of a lot of buzz in recent months, including some questions about whether he’s been using drugs — legal or illicit — and he may have provided the answer himself during a Thursday night podcast by comedian Joe Rogan. Musk smoked what Rogan described as a joint containing a mix of marijuana and tobacco.

“I’m not a regular smoker of weed,” the Tesla chief executive told Rogan and his podcast listeners.

The U.S. Air Force launched an investigation into the matter as Musk's SpaceX has multiple high-value contracts with the military branch, CNBC reported on Friday.

The episode quickly added to the growing controversy over the South African-born executive’s behavior in recent months and increased concerns that Musk might be using other drugs. In an emotional August interview with The New York Times last month, the CEO said he was working as many as 120 hours a week, admitting that friends were worried he was facing exhaustion. The Times also quoted sources claiming that some members of the Tesla board were worried about Musk’s use of the sleeping drug Ambien.

Then, last month, rap singer Azealia Banks, a friend of the singer Grimes, whom Musk has been dating, claimed in a tweet that she saw Musk high on LSD at the time he tweeted about taking Tesla private.

That short-lived plan has triggered an SEC investigation, as well as at least two lawsuits filed by short-sellers who claim it resulted in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Whether Musk has been using drugs, is suffering from exhaustion or, in his words, is struggling through an “excruciating” time of his life, his behavior is raising flags — and also appears to be contributing to the growing loss of talent at the California carmaker.

Over the summer, Tesla’s head of engineering, Doug Fields, someone Musk once described as “one of the world’s most talented engineering execs,” unexpectedly quit.

Now, two other key executives, including human resources head Gabrielle Toledano and Chief Accounting Officer Dave Morton, are out the door. Morton’s departure was particularly surprising considering he joined Tesla only a month ago — a day before Musk’s infamous tweet suggesting he had “funding secured” to take the carmaker private.

Though Morton said “I believe strongly in Tesla,” in a regulatory filing released Friday, he also noted that, "Since I joined Tesla on August 6th, the level of public attention placed on the company, as well as the pace within the company, have exceeded my expectations.”

Later on Friday, Musk announced a series of promotions to fill a variety of open positions including president of automative and vice president of people and places.

Musk has never been shy about public exposure. Like President Donald Trump, he is fond of expressing himself on Twitter but, much like the president, those tweets haven’t always generated the response he apparenttly expected.

Two months ago, Musk got into a flame-war with Vernon Unsworth, a British diver who helped rescue a youth soccer team from a flooded Thai cave. The Tesla CEO had offered to send a mini-submarine to assist in the rescue, something Unsworth dismissed as a publicity stunt. The dispute quickly escalated, with Musk referring to the diver as “pedo guy,” slang for a pedophile. Unsworth threatened to sue and Musk subsequently apologized. But in an unexpected turn this week, Musk revived the dispute, this time referring to Unsworth as a “child rapist,” and urging him to sue.

“Musk will be sued — not because of his hopes, but because he deserves to be sued,” responded the diver’s attorney, L. Lin Wood, adding that “Elon Musk’s ongoing campaign of publishing vile and false accusations against Mr. Unsworth is outrageous.”

Musk has been picking other fights, deriding the media and, during a May conference call to discuss first-quarter earnings, cutting off several analysts, dismissing their questions as “boring.”

Musk’s irreverent behavior has been seen by many of his followers as refreshing. But it is beginning to take its toll on the car company he helped found. The company’s stock has always been volatile but it has grown even more so, bouncing sharply, up or down, after many recent tweets. It neared a record after Musk posted about taking Tesla private, then fell by double digits just days later. This week, it took another fall as Musk renewed his attack on Unsworth. At the same time, its high-yield bonds tumbled to record lows.

But Tesla has a history of bouncing back, and there were signs this week that investors are being buoyed by increases in production at the company’s Fremont, California, assembly plant — and the announcement, by Musk, that Tesla’s three product lines were the three best-selling EVs in America last month. That gives the CEO credibility on what matters most to many investors: his promise of profits for the second half of 2019 after years of heavy losses.

But not everyone is calmed by those numbers. Funds run by Black Rock voted in favor of a recent shareholder proposal that would have required the carmaker to appoint an independent chairman. The measure failed to pass.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...e-show-n907476

[Sky High]

what he should have done is a line of coke off a hookers ass but just off camera. stuffy asshole shareholders.

[RobertoCarlos]

Bit silly of Elon to give himself an ego boost going on the Joe Rogan podcast and showing everyone how down with it he is by lighting up.

But people are lame, stock prices drop because he has a smoke, like fuck off with that shit no wonder this worlds going to hell quicker than a trump shark week special

[Synros]

God forbid he take one puff of a joint, in a State where weed is legal!...

Won't someone think of the children?!

The media reaction to this is just pathetic, and seems more like a smear campaign than anything else...

[MinTDH]

This shit is blowing up like crazy and it's so weird. The clip that I saw he barely inhaled anything?

[Super Kami Dende]

He barely inhaled, took 1 puff, in a state where it is LEGAL. It was far from a Bizarre interview either, it was a JRE podcast.

For fuck sake this is exactly why no one cares about the Mainstream Media anymore. How they blew this out of context is just stupidity.

[Kithelle]

He barely inhaled, took 1 puff, in a state where it is LEGAL. It was far from a Bizarre interview either, it was a JRE podcast.

For fuck sake this is exactly why no one cares about the Mainstream Media anymore. How they blew this out of context is just stupidity.

Sad really...people can really glorify drinking which is so much worse, but god forbid he does something legal that people don't like.

[Nightsight]

He didn't even inhale lmao, and it's even legal.

[Vantheus]

Sad really...people can really glorify drinking which is so much worse, but god forbid he does something legal that people don't like.

it's not legal anywhere in the United States, several states have decriminalized it but it's still against federal law and federal law Trump state law there for no one in the United States even for medicinal purposes legally smokes marijuana so yes people get pissed off at that because rather it should or should not be legal the fact is it is not legal anywhere in the United States under federal law

[PC2]

Who cares? Stock price from 1 day to another has very little bearing on the underlying potential and assets.

[zebreck]

The stock is going down because the market is pricing in a whole lot of caution after Musks frankly idiotic privatization fiasco. If I were a major investor I'd steer well away form anything that man is involved with.

[Synros]

He didn't even inhale lmao, and it's even legal.

I'm more mad that the dude can't blazz.

[rogueMatthias]

This shit is blowing up like crazy and it's so weird. The clip that I saw he barely inhaled anything?

Yeah he took a drag, didn't inhale, then complained that pot never does anything for him. Lmao

I have no issue with him smoking, even if it's a bit cringingly desperate in trying to be cool and "down with the kids".

Tweeting (falsely) about plans to take the company private are dubious as hell though.

As for this bizzare spat with the diver - it's fucking nuts.

Imagine you're him- just a random guy, keep to yourself. You stop to help out on some rescue attempts to help some children. You give all the knowledge you can on the caves and advice to best navigate them, and the children are finally rescued..

Then the next day, you wake up and find yourself famous, all over international news, across all the papers and websites being labelled as a clear peadophile by some millionaire.
Everyone discussing why you are or aren't a peadophile and what reasons there could be (no smoke without fire and all that).
And then it keeps going, and each week there's new comments so the papers are still questioning whether you're a "child rapist".

Like wtf. Things like this ruin careers and ruin peoples lives entirely. And all because Musk is upset that other people ended up rescuing the children and not his submarines? He can't even just be happy they were saved and move on?

What a fucking asshole.

[cubby]

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...e-show-n907476

I hope he's fucking the asshole short sellers. Blight on humanity if you ask me.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah he took a drag, didn't inhale, then complained that pot never does anything for him. Lmao

I have no issue with him smoking, even if it's a bit cringingly desperate in trying to be cool and "down with the kids".

Tweeting (falsely) about plans to take the company private are dubious as hell though.

As for this bizzare spat with the diver - it's fucking nuts.

Imagine you're him- just a random guy, keep to yourself. You stop to help out on some rescue attempts to help some children. You give all the knowledge you can on the caves and advice to best navigate them, and the children are finally rescued..

Then the next day, you wake up and find yourself famous, all over international news, across all the papers and websites being labelled as a clear peadophile by some millionaire.
Everyone discussing why you are or aren't a peadophile and what reasons there could be (no smoke without fire and all that).
And then it keeps going, and each week there's new comments so the papers are still questioning whether you're a "child rapist".

Like wtf. Things like this ruin careers and ruin peoples lives entirely. And all because Musk is upset that other people ended up rescuing the children and not his submarines? He can't even just be happy they were saved and move on?

What a fucking asshole.

Unless it's true . . . .

[Rooflesstoofless]

Unfounded pedo allegations + smoking weed when you’re under federal contracts for a drug that is still federally illegal.

I don’t have a problem with him smoking but I can see why this fallout is happening.

[cubby]

The stock is going down because the market is pricing in a whole lot of caution after Musks frankly idiotic privatization fiasco. If I were a major investor I'd steer well away form anything that man is involved with.

Lol, yeah - he's been such a wreck of a businessman during his lifetime.

[Synros]

What a fucking asshole.

But he's a multi-billionaire behind some of the most important technological advancements in human history, so I really don't think he gives a shit what you, or any haters thinks of him.

- - - Updated - - -

Unfounded pedo allegations + smoking weed when you’re under federal contracts for a drug that is still federally illegal.

I don’t have a problem with him smoking but I can see why this fallout is happening.

Those 2 things are irreverent to each other. This is clearly a media smear campaign over Elon's ties with Trump, than it is about the pedo allegation.

[cubby]

Unfounded pedo allegations + smoking weed when you’re under federal contracts for a drug that is still federally illegal.

I don’t have a problem with him smoking but I can see why this fallout is happening.

Believe it or not, I agree. On both accounts. The fallout isn't a surprise at all.

[ipaq]

Sad really...people can really glorify drinking which is so much worse, but god forbid he does something legal that people don't like.

Heck, they're letting orange buffoon be called president....

[Kithelle]

it's not legal anywhere in the United States, several states have decriminalized it but it's still against federal law and federal law Trump state law there for no one in the United States even for medicinal purposes legally smokes marijuana so yes people get pissed off at that because rather it should or should not be legal the fact is it is not legal anywhere in the United States under federal law

Semantics and such aside, getting upset over a small tiny bit of weed while people glorify something like alcohol which is a lot more dangerous and destructive if not used in careful moderation is moronic.