How Elon Musk's billionaire Doge lieutenant took over the US's biggest MDMA company

MDMA-assisted therapy, company control, and US politics intersect as Antonio Gracias, described as a close associate of Elon Musk, takes operational control of Lykos Therapeutics, the biggest MDMA therapy business in the US. The reporting traces a relationship-building path from Burning Man and a conversation with MAPS founder Rick Doblin to Gracias and a hedge fund billionaire moving toward a takeover after FDA rejection concerns derailed Lykos’s earlier bid for approval. The article connects the leadership shift to broader momentum for psychedelic treatment in the Trump-era US, while raising ethical questions about a government insider’s access and potential influence. It also situates the takeover amid union and political scrutiny of Gracias’s role and conflicts while working with the DOGE effort.