A rumor is spreading that tech billionaire Elon Musk takes ketamine — a powerful, dissociative anesthetic that, in recent years, doctors have been prescribing "off label" as a treatment for mood disorders.
Social media users on platforms such as X (archived), Instagram and Reddit made the accusation about Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors, founder of SpaceX and owner of X — with one person saying he takes the drug to "boost performance."
Snopes readers searched our site for facts on the matter in late 2024 and early 2025.
Musk himself said he uses the drug in a March 2024 interview, and he's frequently posted about it on X generally over the years. We reached out to representatives of Musk to elaborate on his ketamine use, as well as to respond to reports about his relationship to drugs affecting his behavior in work settings. We have not received a response, though we will update this report when, or if, we do.
In other words, Snopes could not directly confirm how much ketamine Musk took, in what form (spray, powder, liquid injection, etc.) or how often.
However, in late May 2025, after Musk announced his departure from the U.S. government as the public face of the Department of Government Efficiency, The New York Times reported that his drug use was far more extensive than previously known. The report added that as the CEO of SpaceX, which benefits from federal contracts, he is supposed to take surprise drug tests, but that he was often warned ahead of them that they were about to occur. Snopes has not independently confirmed the New York Times' reporting.
Nearly three weeks after the report, Musk posted a drug test result that showed he was clear of drugs (archived):
While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ketamine as an anesthetic, it has only OK'd esketamine — a molecule that is a mirror image of ketamine — for treatment-resistant depression. Esketamine comes as a nasal spray. But ketamine, used off-label for depression, can be injected intravenously or intramuscularly under medical supervision, taken sublingually in lozenges without swallowing, or administered nasally via a spray. Recreational users or addicts often opt for snorting ketamine powder for a quick rush.
Abusing the drug can have serious consequences, according to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. It warns:
Long-term, heavy ketamine use is associated with memory problems, depression, and anxiety. At high doses, ketamine may cause psychosis, a mental illness that causes a person to lose touch with reality. Frequent recreational ketamine use can lead to delusions that can last to up to one month after a person stops using it.
Musk's Own Words About Taking Ketamine
Musk talked openly about taking ketamine in an interview with former CNN reporter Don Lemon on March 18, 2024. Musk said he has a prescription for the drug to treat depression. Snopes has not been able to independently verify that claim since Musk's team has not responded to our inquiry for this report.
For depression treatment, generally, he advocated for ketamine use over more traditional options, such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that aim to increase serotonin in the brain.
The moment went like this:
Lemon: But you've admitted you have a ketamine prescription.
Musk: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lemon: What's that for?
Musk: Well, I mean, it's pretty private to ask someone about their medical prescription, you know that.
There are times when I have sort of, I don't know, like a negative chemical state in my [...] brain. Like depression, I guess, you know — or like depression that's not linked to any negative news. And then ketamine is helpful for getting you — getting one outside, out of a negative frame of mind.
[...]
Obviously, I'm not a doctor, but I would say, if someone has depression issues, they should consider talking to their doctor about ketamine instead of SSRIs.
Lemon asked him if he abuses the drug, and Musk said no; that he could not afford to "get wasted" because he has to work a lot. In the video of the interview below, the exchange starts at roughly the 19-minute mark:
The day after the interview published, Musk posted on X about ketamine, as well. In a reply to a video of Jim Cramer, a television presenter, discussing Musk's comments with Lemon (archived), Musk said he has talked about ketamine on X for years hoping "it might help people struggling with bouts of depression."
The reason I posted about ketamine (at some personal risk) is that I thought it might help people struggling with bouts of depression.
In my opinion, it is a far better solution than being zombified by SSRI's.
Critics Claim Ketamine Is Affecting Musk's Behavior at Work
Citing anonymous sources, a Wall Street Journal investigation published in January 2024 reported executives and board members at Musk's companies have expressed concerns over his recreational use of ketamine and other drugs, such as LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana. The report claimed:
People close to Musk, who is now 52, said his drug use is ongoing, especially his consumption of ketamine, and that they are concerned it could cause a health crisis. Even if it doesn't, it could damage his businesses.
His attorney Alex Spiro told The Wall Street Journal that Musk took regular drug tests and had "never failed one." Because the outlet's reporting was based on anonymous sources "close to Musk," Snopes was unable to independently verify it.
Two days after the report was published, Musk said on X (archived): "If drugs actually helped improve my net productivity over time, I would definitely take them!"
Musk repeated Spiro's claim about drug tests, saying NASA requires him to screen for such substances in his system after he once shared a marijuana cigarette with podcast host Joe Rogan (archived).
Months before the Wall Street Journal investigation, unnamed sources told The New Yorker that they believe ketamine and other factors allegedly affect Musk's impulsivity. "Associates suggested that Musk's use has escalated in recent years, and that the drug, alongside his isolation and his increasingly embattled relationship with the press, might contribute to his tendency to make chaotic and impulsive statements and decisions," the report said.