Tesla shares have dropped nearly 10% this afternoon – after two senior executives were reported to be leaving the company.

Bloomberg reports that Chief Accounting Officer Dave Morton has told the company that he is resigning after only one month in the job.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle Toledo, Tesla’s head of human resources, told Bloomberg News that she will not rejoin the company after her extended leave of absence.

Word of the resignations came hours after CEO Elon Musk made headlines by smoking marijuana on a live webcast with comedian Joe Rogan.

Before 10am New York time, Tesla shares had dropped nearly 10% to $252.25.

They had originally dropped just 1% after Mr Musk’s appearance on the Rogan podcast.

In a company filing, Mr Morton said: “Since I joined Tesla on August 6th, the level of public attention placed on the company, as well as the pace within the company, have exceeded my expectations.”

“As a result, this caused me to reconsider my future.

“I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission, and its future prospects - and I have no disagreements with Tesla’s leadership or its financial reporting.”

On the Rogan podcast, Mr Musk spoke about artificial intelligence, his plan to colonise Mars and the dangers of social media.

He said he is driven by the need to accomplish and be useful to others.

"A lot of people don't like humanity and think it is a blight; but I don't," he said. "It may sound corny, but love is the answer.

“Spend more time with your friends and less time on social media."

On his plans to bring humanity to Mars with SpaceX, he warned that a future where humanity was constrained to Earth "would not be a good future."

"I think the future in where we are a space-faring civilisation out there among the stars, that is very exciting," he said.

After the comedian offered him marijuana, the serial entrepreneur asked, “It’s legal right?” before taking a drag.

"I'm not a regular smoker of weed,” he said. “Almost never.”

“I don't find that it's very good for productivity. It is sort of like a cup of coffee in reverse."