Shares in Tesla dropped 10 percent in a single day of trading on Friday after CEO Elon Musk took one puff of marijuana on a live podcast, followed by his chief accounting officer resigning within weeks of taking the job.

The outspoken billionaire was on a live stream with comedian Joe Rogan when he was offered a cigar-like mix of tobacco and cannabis known as a blunt on Thursday night.

He took one on-screen puff from the blunt during the two-and-a-half hour show. The show was filmed in California where recreational marijuana is legal, according to state laws. He does appear to inhale.

However, Musk attracted criticism for the incident, as he is already under close scrutiny for potential stock manipulation, is facing legal action from a prominent short seller, and potential defamation action for calling a cave rescuer a "child rapist.”

"We have been calling for a Co-CEO or COO to assist to codifying the leadership structure and in so doing, the culture at Tesla," said James Albertine, an analyst at brokerage Consumer Edge, intensifying recent investor calls for a senior leadership appointee.

"We think this is further evidence that the time is now for management and the board to address these issues."

When Rogan offered the blunt he said, "You probably can't because of stockholders right?" Musk responded by pointing out it was legal in California, but also said that he very rarely partook.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects A serial entrepreneur Tech visionary Musk intends to revolutionize transportation, both on earth and in space, and the way humans lead their lives. Over the past two decades, the South African-born American entrepreneur has emerged as one of Silicon Valley's most recognized faces worldwide. Musk was cofounder of Paypal, which was acquired by eBay for $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion) in 2002.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects Eying space In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company currently valued at over $20 billion. He wants to make space travel cheaper and, eventually, enable human life on Mars, thus giving human kind a chance at becoming multi-planetary species.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects A mission to Mars SpaceX's Falcon and Dragon rocket programs both already deliver payloads into Earth's orbit. The company has said it wants to launch its Mars-bound cargo flight in 2022, followed by the first Mars flight with passengers in 2024.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects Transforming transportation After founding SpaceX, Musk set up Tesla in 2003 to come up with electric autonomous vehicles and renewable energy solutions. But production bottlenecks have plagued the company, with much of its future banked on the Model 3, its first mid-price, mass-market vehicle.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects Really big Teslas are coming After the foray into electric cars, Musk last year opened a new chapter in his book of visions as he unveiled the prototype of a futuristic all-electric heavy truck. The vehicle — dubbed the Tesla Semi — is set to go into production in 2019. It would boast 500 miles of range, a battery and motors that will last 1 million miles and cheaper total operating costs than diesel models, Musk claimed.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects Roofs made of solar tiles Besides running SpaceX and Tesla, Musk has also invested in the solar energy company SolarCity to turn his vision of a solar-powered future into a reality. Musk said houses equipped with Tesla's Solar Roof would feed energy to Powerwall, a sleek storage unit designed to act as an electricity fill-up station for both the house and a Tesla electric car.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects Dreaming an electric future In 2015, Musk unveiled Powerwall, a home battery unit with a selling price of $3,500 for 10kWh and $3,000 for 7kWh. The Powerwall can be controlled via one's phone, from anywhere. But slow production rates have proved to be a problem.

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects Hyperloop Hyperloop came into global prominence after it was proposed by Musk in 2013. It is viewed as a next-generation transportation system — a "fifth mode" of transport (after planes, trains, cars and boats). It uses magnetically-levitated pods and sealed partial vacuum transit tubes to move people and freight at supersonic speeds estimated to reach over 700 miles per hour (1,127 kilometers per hour).

From colonies on Mars to Hyperloop — Elon Musk's multifarious projects Merging brain with AI In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology startup that is reportedly trying to create brain-computer interfaces by integrating the human brain with artificial intelligence (AI). The project is currently at an early stage of development. Author: Srinivas Mazumdaru



Chief accountant quits

Also on Friday, Tesla's chief accountant announced he was stepping down after just one month on the job. Dave Morton said in a securities filing: "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," Morton said in a securities filing.

"As a result, this caused me to reconsider my future. I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission, and its future prospects, and I have no disagreements with Tesla's leadership or its financial reporting."

Bloomberg also reported that Tesla's Chief People Officer Gaby Toledano would be stepping down after about a year in the job.

Early in Friday trading, Tesla shares had dipped by roughly 10 percent to around $252 (€217), their biggest single-day drop in two years. The stock later rallied and recouped much of its losses. As recently as early August, a Tesla share fetched almost $380.

aw/msh (AFP, Reuters, AP)