Musk vows to remain Tesla CEO despite 'excruciating' year

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he will remain as chairman and chief executive of Tesla despite admitting he suffered an excruciating year at the company that has affected his personal life and health.

Musk told the New York Times that "this past year has been the most difficult and painful year" of his career. He also said the board had considered recruiting a deputy to take on part of his responsibilities, but he was adamant that nobody can do the job better than him.

He said he had been working up to 120 hours per week recently, adding he had not taken more than a week off since 2001, when he suffered from malaria.

"There were times when I didn't leave the factory for three or four days — days when I didn't go outside," he said. "This has really come at the expense of seeing my kids. And seeing friends."

Tesla is going through a rough patch, most recently after Musk tweeted he was considering taking the company private.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s had already opened an investigation last year over irregularities about how the company went about informing investors about the cause or extent of production delays in its Model 3 vehicle.

That was followed this week by a subpoena of Tesla’s directors by regulators seeking to learn the truth behind Musk's plan to take the company private.

Musk said in the interview that he wanted to offer a roughly 20% premium over the current stock price, which would have been about $419. He had rounded up the number to $420 — a number that has become code for marijuana.

"It seemed like better karma at $420 than at $419," he said in the interview. "But I was not on weed, to be clear. Weed is not helpful for productivity. There’s a reason for the word ‘stoned.’ You just sit there like a stone on weed."

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Recently, a former Tesla employee filed a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission accusing the company of misdeeds, the Financial Times reported. Karl Hansen, a former Tesla employee in its internal security department and investigations division was fired in July.

His lawyer, also representing Martin Tripp (another former Tesla employee who was sued by the company for alleged whistle-blowing), said Hansen claimed his phones had been wiretapped and computers hacked by the company.

Mr Hansen further alleged that the company had failed to disclose to federal investigators and local law enforcement officials allegations that a Tesla employee at the Nevada factory was involved in a drug-trafficking ring. He said he had been fired for expressing his concerns on the matter.

"I never expected that my employment with such a major public company would lead to uncovering such issues, and am disturbed by Tesla’s highly unusual response to those, like me, who investigated them," Mr Hansen said in a statement.