Tesla Inc.’s share price sank to near its lowest point for the year Friday after the electric-car maker lost more executives and Chief Executive Elon Musk appeared to smoke marijuana during an interview streamed on the web.

Dave Morton, touted by Tesla in late July as part of “key new talent” hired after a spell of executive departures, said Friday in a filing that he left because the public attention on the company and its pace were too much. Tesla also confirmed that Gabrielle Toledano, its head of human resources, wouldn’t rejoin Tesla after her leave of absence.

Meanwhile, Mr. Musk’s actions in a late-night interview with comedian Joe Rogan—drinking whiskey and revealing a personal side of himself—was another example of the CEO’s unorthodox style that has won him legions of fans. But some analysts and investors say his erratic behavior is creating distractions for the company and its employees.

“We believe evidence is becoming more clear that Tesla needs to entertain a major change in the C-Suite,” Jamie Albertine, an analyst for Consumer Edge, wrote in a report Friday. “The ongoing, effectively self-inflicted public relations crisis is now affecting key personnel within the organization.”

Tesla’s shares on Friday fell 6.3% to $263.24, approaching its 52-week low of $244.59. They are down 31% since Aug. 7 when Mr. Musk declared in a tweet that he had funding secured to take the company private at $420 a share.


Tesla’s bonds, meanwhile, had their second-biggest one-day decline on record. “The judgment of the chief executive is coming under scrutiny,” said Christopher Sullivan, chief investment officer at United Nations Federal Credit Union.

Later on Friday, Mr. Musk announced in a memo to employees several high-level promotions, including installing veteran Tesla manager Jerome Guillen as president of automotive. The newly created position could help bolster leadership in manufacturing and relieve some of the day-to-day pressure on Mr. Musk, who had taken direct control of these areas earlier this year.

“For awhile, there will be a lot of fuss and noise in the media,” Mr. Musk wrote in the memo posted on Tesla’s website. “Just ignore them. Results are what matter.”

The latest events further test a company that is dealing with the fallout from Mr. Musk’s abandoned attempt to take it private, pressure to meet key production goals, concerns over its cash position and questions about the CEO’s behavior.

Some of Tesla’s supportive investors were chagrined by Mr. Musk’s latest antics. He “gave the short sellers another life,” Ross Gerber, chief executive of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, said on Twitter early Friday. “Creating a totally unnecessary crisis of confidence. Even as they report incredible growth in operating numbers.” His firm owns about 38,000 Tesla shares worth roughly $10 million.


In an email before Mr. Musk’s Friday afternoon memo, Mr. Gerber said Mr. Musk at least appeared happy in the interview, countering a narrative that he is personally struggling. “I’m just not happy the [board of directors] is not announcing executives being added to support Tesla,” he said. “They need someone solid for perception ASAP.”

Later in the day, Mr. Gerber said Friday’s news of promotions appeared to address his concerns.

Mr. Morton, the departing accounting chief, said he had “no disagreements with Tesla’s leadership or its financial reporting,” and that he still believed in “Tesla, its mission and its future prospects.”

He and Ms. Toledano joined other notable executives who have left Tesla this year, including engineering chief Doug Field, who ended up at Apple Inc., and sales and marketing president John McNeill, who went to the ride-hailing service Lyft Inc. Ms. Toledano’s decision was earlier reported by Bloomberg.


More than 50 vice presidents or higher have left the company in the past two years. Mr. Musk has said he sees executive turnover as being in line with that of other large companies and has announced plans for a reorganization aimed at flattening the layers of managers.

Amid Tesla’s difficulties, Mr. Musk took a break on Thursday night to appear on the popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” streamed live on YouTube and hosted by Mr. Rogan. The interview, which lasted more than 2 ½ hours and stretched past midnight, was provocative, at times turning personal. The entrepreneur, wearing a black T-shirt with the words “Occupy Mars,” expressed his concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence, explored his vision for an electric supersonic airplane and said his brain is a “never-ending explosion of ideas.”

Near the end, Mr. Rogan lighted what he said was “marijuana inside of tobacco” and asked Mr. Musk if he had ever smoked marijuana before.

“I think I tried one once,” Mr. Musk said, laughing. “You probably can’t because of stockholders, right?” Mr. Rogan asked. “I mean, it’s legal right?” Mr. Musk said. “Totally legal,” Mr. Rogan replied. The interview was filmed in the Los Angeles metro area, where marijuana is allowed under state law.

Elon Musk spoke for more than 2½ hours on topics ranging from the dangers of artificial intelligence to his use of Twitter.

Mr. Musk then put the marijuana cigarette to his mouth and took one puff before handing it back. He said he “almost never” smokes it and that he didn’t feel an effect.


“I know a lot of people like weed—and that’s fine—but I don’t find that it is very useful for productivity,” Mr. Musk said.

Mr. Musk has drawn attention recently for his occasional public outbursts. In the past few months, he has lashed out at analysts on a quarterly conference call for asking “boring, bonehead” questions, suggested on Twitter that a British cave explorer was a pedophile, and on Aug. 7 declared he had secured funding to take Tesla private when it later was revealed he was still trying to line up investors to propose a deal.

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Elon Musk's market-moving tweet about possibly taking Tesla private is just the latest erratic move in a tumultuous year for the CEO. Photo illustration: Heather Seidel/The Wall Street Journal

Following the spell of erratic behavior, some investors and analysts have questioned Mr. Musk’s fitness as CEO. Friends and family say they are concerned Mr. Musk is fatigued and overworked. Mr. Musk has talked about struggling with sleep and his use of the sleeping drug Ambien. When the drug doesn’t work, weariness saps his productivity the next day, according to a person familiar with his usage.

Last month, singer Azealia Banks suggested on Instagram that Mr. Musk used LSD while tweeting. A spokesperson for Mr. Musk called that claim “complete nonsense.” Ms. Banks, who later apologized, made the accusation in the days after Mr. Musk’s going-private tweet.

Mr. Musk scrapped the idea 16 days later and now faces an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission into whether he misled investors. The Tesla board wasn’t happy with Mr. Musk’s use of Twitter and has told him to be more careful, a person familiar with the matter previously told The Wall Street Journal.

Regarding his thoughts on Twitter, Mr. Musk said in the interview he tries to ignore most negative comments “but every now and again, you get drawn in. It’s not good. You can make mistakes.”

—Dan Kruger contributed to this article.

Write to Tim Higgins at Tim.Higgins@WSJ.com

Corrections & Amplifications

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management owns about 38,000 shares of Tesla Inc. worth roughly $10 million at Friday’s closing price of $263.24. An earlier version of this article misstated the total value as roughly $1 million. (Sept. 9)