As first-time <em>SNL</em> host, tech magnate Elon Musk played himself in a pre-taped sketch.

As first-time SNL host, tech magnate Elon Musk played himself in a pre-taped sketch. / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Tech billionaire Elon Musk hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, in a debut performance that drummed up a lot of reaction before his big night even began.

As the night unfolded, Musk, CEO of electric carmaker Tesla and chief engineer of SpaceX, played a range of characters, including: a doctor at a Gen Z hospital, a priest and self-confessed murderer in a Mare of Easttown parody, an anti-social party guest in a post-pandemic world — and, naturally — himself.

A Musk-less cold open celebrated Mother's Day with cast members trading jokes with their very own moms.

Then, Musk spent his self-deprecative monologue making fun of his Elon-isms — his trigger-happy Twitter fingers, his high-flying visions of the future and his proclivity for marijuana.

Perhaps most newsworthy, he appeared to reveal that he has Asperger's syndrome, which is considered a high-functioning disorder on the autism spectrum.

"I'm the first person with Asperger's to host SNL" he said. "Or at least the first to admit it."

He also brought his mom to the main stage, Maye Musk — a model and star in her own right.

For Weekend Update, Musk broke down cryptocurrency (or tried to), specifically Dogecoin, a meme-inspired crypto that he loves to hype up on Twitter. An hour into his hosting duties, Dogecoin's value plunged over 26%.

In sign of world intrigue in his hosting debut, SNL also offered a livestream of the show, available for international audiences in over 100 countries.

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