It’s hard to know what Silicon Valley is doing at any given moment. At one point, they wanted to reinvent the bodega, an institution that needs no reinventing at this time. Then they tried to sell dirty water, and now, apparently, their corporate parties are bonkers enough that Elon Musk confused a sex party for a business party. Yes, that Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, the man who is literally shooting rockets into the sky and dreaming big about the transportation industry and space travel.
Journalist Emily Chang is has written a new book titled Brotopia, which aims to expose Silicon Valley for its “orgiastic” wild side; according to her account, the source of so much wealth in this country is also a bacchanalian pleasure fest full of drugs, sex, and money. An excerpt from Chang’s book published in Vanity Fair—which described a party “on the edge of the earth” but did not name names—led entrepreneur Paul Biggar to write about it on his blog. Biggar claims he was in attendance, and it was “way, way worse than it sounds.” What’s more, Biggar claims Elon Musk attended the party and allegedly saw Musk on the dance floor.
One particularly saucy excerpt from Chang’s book provides interesting context for just what kind of party it was, featuring plush white faux fur, an erotic “cuddle puddle,” one venture capitalist dressed up as a bunny, and the drug Molly.
Doe found herself on the floor with two couples, including a male entrepreneur and his wife. The living room had been blanketed in plush white faux fur and pillows, where, as the evening wore on, several people lay down and started stroking one another, Doe said, in what became a sizable cuddle puddle. One venture capitalist, dressed up as a bunny (it’s unclear how this fit into the edge-of-the-earth theme), offered Jane Doe some powder in a plastic bag. It was Molly. ‘They said it will just make you feel relaxed and you’re going to like being touched,’ Doe recounted to me.
In case this whole episode wasn't wild enough for you, a representative for Tesla and SpaceX confirmed to Business Insider that Musk did attend the party in question, but that he thought it was a “corporate part with a costume theme.” The full statement reads as follows:
Elon was at the party for a couple hours and left around 1am after talking with several DFJ-funded entrepreneurs about technology and building companies. His impression was that it was a corporate party with a costume theme, not a ‘sex party’, and there was no indication that it would become one after he left.
It’s no question Elon Musk is a massively successful guy, but is he really naive enough to think a party with someone dressed up in a bunny costume and a bunch of people touching each other is a serious business meeting? Of course, that could also speak more about the kind of meetings that happen in Silicon Valley than about Musk, but, then again, he has done some silly things in the past before, like the time he shared his phone number with 16.7 million people. The real conclusion I've gathered is that I must be invited to the parties and meetings so I can accurately report on the differences.
