Elon Musk, the visionary technological prophet who wants to build a human colony on Mars, had smoked a blunt while he was a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience. The response was almost immediate as stocks of Tesla dropped nine percent after the show.

Meanwhile, his top executives announced that they are leaving the embattled company, which has been facing SEC investigation for possible violation of federal laws following Musk’s public announcements about taking the company private.

Among the key executives who are leaving the company are Dave Morton, chief accounting officer; Gaby Toledano, human resources chief; and Sarah O’Brien, VP for communications.

Musk has reportedly been trying to raise $70 billion to buy out the rest of the shareholders and he’s turning to Saudi investors to help raise the money. The Tesla founder as well as the co-founder of PayPal is reportedly worth $23 billion. He has spent about $100 million of his own money for the SpaceX program, the remaining amount he intends to raise in financing.

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Back to the Joe Rogan Experience. The appearance of Musk was significant because he frowned upon the use of weed, as it doesn’t promote productivity, as he previously told The New York Times. Listeners of the show were quick to point out the hypocrisy when the 47-year-old smoked a blunt.

The plummeting shares of Tesla may not be due to the fact that Musk smoked weed on the Internet show. Movements are to be expected in anticipation of a buyout, and the billionaire has never wavered from his intention to pay shareholders a fixed amount of $420 per share at a 20% markup of the share cost. Actually, the figure he came up with was $419 but he rounded up the number for “good karma.”

Ironically, the number 420 is an important digit for marijuana advocates. It refers to the April 20, which is celebrated each year as Weed Day.

Nevertheless, smoking a blunt on a podcast did have some unintended consequences as the US Air Force is reportedly reviewing the security clearance of Musk. He has several government contracts, including a contract with NASA, because of his SpaceX program. This is not the first time that he has been accused of indulging too much with recreational drugs as he was previously accused of abusing sleeping pills.

Smoking a blunt on Joe Rogan’s podcast seemed to be irresponsible in light of that context. But it’s also premature to blame his weed use to the Tesla stock plunge. In fact, it could be attributed to the timing of the company’s top executives exit more than anything else.

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Musk is the first to admit that he’s under a lot of stress. Aside from Tesla and the SpaceX program, he also has The Boring Company to worry about. All three companies have been on the verge of failing before but the billionaire still managed to keep bankruptcy lawyers at bay. However, a lot of investors still believe in his vision and nobody in their right mind can really count Musk out.

What do you believe is instore next for Elon Musk? We love your input on this topic in our comment box below.