Washington: SpaceX/Tesla founder Elon Musk said during the Saturday Night Live (SNL) show he is hosting for the first time that he has Asperger Syndrome, a kind of autism spectrum disorder.
During his opening monologue, the eccentric and controversial leader of Tesla and SpaceX referred to himself as “the first person with Asperger’s to host SNL,” the first time he’s appeared to link himself to the condition.
“To anyone I’ve ever offended, I just want to say: I reinvented electric cars and am sending people to Mars on a rocket ship. Did you think I was also going to a be a chill, normal dude?” Musk said.
He used the rest of his monologue to poke fun at his reputation for grandiosity, his penchant for Twitter trolling, and his fascination with dogecoin, a “joke” cryptocurrency that’s soared in value after he started championing it.
Musk is not the first non-actor to host SNL. Former US President Donald Trump hosted it in 2015, back when he was presidential candidate. Rudy Giuliani and Al Gore have also hosted the show.
Asperger’s syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder usually linked to social difficulties but fairly strong verbal and cognitive skills. Some observers and hiring managers have suggested people with Asperger’s can perform well in tech, entrepreneurship, and other fields that require strong analytical skills.
