In an interview with The New York Times Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has shared details about his "most difficult, excruciating year" and the reasons behind his mind-blowing Twitter behavior. It turns out that Musk has faced serious challenges fulfilling production norms for Tesla automobiles this year, working some 120 hours per week without proper rest and such a work schedule has taken a toll on his health. He is now unable to properly sleep without taking Ambien.
"It is often a choice of no sleep or Ambien," Musk said.
The latter became a point of concern for some of the board members, the media outlet reported, citing anonymous sources close to the board. Some of the members believe that Ambien, instead of helping Musk sleep, prompts him to post his notorious midnight tweets.
READ MORE: Singer Claims Elon Musk Was 'On Acid' Writing Dicey Tesla Tweets
Musk himself says he was not on drugs when he tweeted about making the company private, refuting claims that he was high on weed. According to Musk, he aimed for transparency, but now the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating the company's activities over the market panic that the tweet created.
"But I was not on weed, to be clear. Weed is not helpful for productivity," he said.
Social media users were not especially imbued with compassion towards Tesla's CEO upon learning about his health problems. Many Twitterians suggested that Musk is actually trying to play the "Ambien card" to explain his misdeeds on Twitter.
Uh oh. Elon Musk uses the Ambien defense… https://t.co/l7w8xGbcM2
— C'estMoi! (@mostwiselatina) August 17, 2018
Oh #Ambien makes another appearance in the @nytimes article.
— KillingMyCareer (@MelaynaLokosky) August 17, 2018
Shifting blame without taking accountability.
Elon Musk is going to be so pissed if boards name a new *No Ambien & Tweeting clause* after Roseanne Barr, his fragile, birthday-missing ego couldn't handle it. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/iccuPANKiB
Is Musk getting ready to adopt the Roseanne Barr Ambien defence strategy? https://t.co/4XqjNC8sUU
— James Herron🔋 (@ja_herron) August 17, 2018
The part about Ambien. The board complains that Elon Musk sometimes goes on a twitter rant instead of sleeping while on Ambien. Interesting, thats what Roseanne Barr blamed her racist twitter rant on; a night of Ambien.
— Ms. Vegas (@cyndivegas) August 17, 2018
It seems that Elon Musk needs some backup 24 hr. days r tuff
@theGCouncil Please tell me Elon Musk wasn't a false flag for Trump. Now he's blaming it on "Ambien" 😳😟
— Melinda Sarasin (@elmiracat14) August 17, 2018
Many Twitter users mulled over the idea of how Ambien might have affected Musk's brain or behavior.
Even though I have puts and always short $tsla and think musk is only surviving by subsidies and bail outs. Ambien can make you say crazy things. It’s a psychedelic but still shorting $tsla. 😈😂
— antiwarleansrightstocks (@shortteslayay) August 17, 2018
Musk Ambien-tweeting would explain a lot actually https://t.co/nFqICFrSDz
— Nathan (@ThePaleBlue) August 17, 2018
Is being a total douche a side effect of Ambien, or are Roseanne and Elon Musk just douches who become more douchy while taking it?
— #ArrestTrump (@AnonFidelis) August 17, 2018
Musk is proof that Ambien does not necessarily lead to racism on Twitter though.
— Oskar Pineño (@opineno) August 17, 2018
'To help sleep when he is not working, Mr. Musk said he sometimes takes Ambien. “It is often a choice of no sleep or Ambien,” he said.'
— mcm-ct.com (@mcm_ct) August 17, 2018
BS
Yeah that happens when the stress of business is rooted in fraud to the point you can not function properly
I’m no Musk fan, but for me, the choice is often no sleep or ambien- BUT you have to actually GO TO BED when you take it. That’s the whole point.
— Not Lisa (@Lisahhhh) August 17, 2018
…rest of the interview is omg, pull it together, dude. Damn. https://t.co/rLVOb5MXur
Some users showed their outright disdain for the CEO and his hardships.
Wow, this embarrassing puff piece on Musk is the NYT lead story. Pity the poor libertarian billionaire who tweets gibberish like Trump, possibly because he’s off his head on Ambien. Christ almighty! https://t.co/VPvput55oO
— Jay Russell (@RedHarvest) August 17, 2018
Elon Musk, who drowns himself in Ambien and red wine (self admittedly), thinks being "on weed" makes you lazy. This fucking guy. pic.twitter.com/L8uzdM0ibm
— TRICIA (@tclep) August 17, 2018
Although there were those, who felt for Musk and wished him well.
I've been increasingly dismayed and put off by Musk's behavior of late, but I must say, this NYT article softened my view of Elon, Ambien use notwithstanding. Guess I'm a sucker for people who reveal their vulnerability, especially people in positions of power. Hope he gets well.
— Ronald Fel Jones (@ronaldfeljones) August 17, 2018
his alleged abuse of Ambien is worrying, both for his health and for Tesla. I don’t like Musk, but I hope he can step back and get healthier to avert a personal tragedy…
— hardindr (@hardindr) August 17, 2018
