Tesla chief executive Elon Musk has defended himself in an interview with The New York Times in the wake of his controversial tweet about taking the electric automaker private.

The outspoken entrepreneur says that he made his ambitious tweet about wanting to take “Tesla private at $420” while driving himself to an airport. Musk didn’t expect the backlash he received.

Immediately after the fateful tweet, shares in Tesla soared but Musk was left with some serious questions to answer. Most importantly, everyone wondered what he meant when he finished his tweet with “Funding secured.” As it turns out, funding to take Tesla private has not been secured.

According to Musk, he was referring to a potential investment by Saudi Arabia’s government investment fund. After holding talks with the $250 billion fund about financing a move to take Tesla private, Musk thought a deal was imminent. According to two people briefed on the discussions, however, the Saudi fund had not actually committed to provide any cash.

One day after his tweet, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) started investigating Tesla over its CEO’s claims. Prior to his tweet, Musk had made no mention of his plans to any board members, leaving many of them angry, though he says no one contacted him to voice his frustration.

Elon Musk is in seriously hot water.

Tesla’s board, including Musk, have since received subpoenas from the SEC and are expected to answer questions as soon as next week.

According to Musk, his controversial tweets in recent times have been due to a full-on work schedule. He claims to have been working 120 hours a week and hasn’t enjoyed more than a week off since 2001.

“There were times when I didn’t leave the factory for three or four days — days when I didn’t go outside,” Musk said of the last 12 months. “This has really come at the expense of seeing my kids. And seeing friends.”

Board members have become concerned about Musk’s use of Ambien and suspect that the drug contributes to his late-night Twitter antics. His answer? “It is often a choice of no sleep or Ambien”, he said, claiming that he needs the drug to relax and fall asleep.

However, even his choice of $420 for the stock price he expected was criticized, as the number is also a code name for marijuana among users.

Musk says he does not regret his August 7 Twitter posting. As for the number, he dismisses the drug implication and reasons that he put up a 20 percent premium over the trading price at that moment that resulted in $419, but decided to round it up to $420 because it looked better. “It seemed like better karma at $420 than at $419,” he said to the NY Times. “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.”

For years, the electric automaker has been looking for a number 2 to ease Musk’s workload. So far, the search has yet to turn up any results, but the entrepreneur says he’s ready to hand over the reins if someone suitable can be found.

“If you have anyone who can do a better job, please let me know. They can have the job. Is there someone who can do the job better? They can have the reins right now,” he said.

Anyway, apart from the SEC, Tesla and Musk also have to face a lawsuit that was filed last week in San Francisco and concerns the aforementioned tweet about having secured funding, which is claimed to have been made in order to manipulate stocks and harm “short-sellers”.