How Joe Rogan Made Tesla Lose $4.3 Billion

TheThings

One of the podcasters with the largest platforms today is Joe Rogan. The former reality TV show host turned podcast host runs one of the most successful broadcasts with his show "The Joe Rogan Podcast."

This isn't to say that Joe is a stranger to scandals or to bizarre conversations. (One need look no further than his recent claim that dragons are real or his admission of the one surprising guest banned from his podcast.) There was even an incident when comments on his show resulted in tech company Tesla losing a whopping $4.3 billion.

Elon Musk Appeared On Joe Rogan's Podcast

Joe first had Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, as a guest on his podcast in 2018. While recording the episode, Joe offered a joint to Elon, explaining that in it was a mix of tobacco and weed. Apparently, the tech genius was confused about the offer, and it made him ask Joe a silly question:

Is that a cigar?

After Joe clarified what the substance was, Elon accepted, even joking that he would only do so because he knew it was legal. The public-facing figure did note, however, that he rarely partook in smoking marijuana.

It seems that Elon had at least some awareness that certain listeners of the podcast wouldn't support him doing drug-like substances. He went on to clarify that largely sticking to sober habits served him well when it came to being a CEO:

I don't find that it is very good for productivity.

Despite his comment, ironically, the two men would go on to indulge in whiskey throughout the rest of their conversation.

Elon's Comments Had A Financial Backlash

Even though Elon tried to cover his bases during the podcast appearance, his conversation had huge repercussions for Tesla. After speaking with Joe, Tesla shares dropped an unfathomable nine percent, making its share point the worst it had ever been. At the time, the drop was the equivalent to a loss of $4.3 billion.

Some fans cited the episode as the reason for the drop — the recorded conversation spanned nearly two and a half hours and was described as "wild" and "rambling" by some. Another theory for why the drop was so significant was that the company's chief accounting officer, Dave Morton, also chose to leave around the same time.

Whatever the case may be, Elon can rest easy knowing that his company's share price has gone back up in the years since his strange podcast appearance.