Elon Musk has rejected Bill Gates’ request for a meeting to discuss philanthropic topics on climate change.
A series of text messages had leaked which shows how Bill Gates was proposing a meeting with Elon Musk and would “discuss philanthropy possibilities”. Elon Musk was seen not willing to do so after Gates admitted that he had not closed out his short position on Tesla.
“Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change.” This was Elon Musk’s reply to Gates when he had declined his invitation for a meeting.
Musk later confirmed that these Tweets were legit and told @WholeMarsBlog on Twitter that he “didn’t leak it to NYT”.
He added, “They must have got it through friends of friends. I heard from multiple people at TED that Gates still had half-billion short against Tesla, which is why I asked him, so it’s not exactly top secret.”
Elon Musk Rejects The Meeting As He Sees Gates Betting Against Them
There have been rumors that Gates did hold a short position against Tesla. But the man himself never confirmed if he had any sort of investment.
During a CNBC interview in February 2021, Bill Gates declined to talk about this short position. He said: “Yeah, I’m not, I don’t talk about my investments, but I think he should be very proud of what he’s done.”
However, a few days later, in a Bloomberg interview, Gates shed light on his position, admitting to shorting the stock.
“Well, you know, I think Tesla’s an amazing company. Uh, I wish I’d, you know, owned, been more on the long side,” Gates said. “But, you know, it’s great. And you know, I have lots of relatives who own Teslas that I’ve helped buy for them. So you know, nothing but positive thoughts about Tesla and its role.”
(from making fun of Gates for shorting Tesla while claiming to support climate change action)
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 24, 2022
This short position raises several red flags as Tesla has been the major force in the transition to electric vehicles. Elon Musk’s rejection is also justified as Bill Gates is openly betting against the 21st century’s most revolutionary company.
How can Elon Musk take this meeting seriously if Gates is betting against his company? After all, Tesla’s vows of tackling climate change are famous, to say the least.
Keep Reading: Bill Gates Once Issued a Warning to the World About Elon Musk
Sources
- “Elon Musk shoots down Bill Gates’ request to discuss philanthropy in new leaked texts.” Teslarati. Joey Klender. April 23, 2022.
- “Elon Musk says he’s ‘moving on’ from ‘making fun’ of Bill Gates for shorting Tesla after leaked text conversation reveals spat between the tech moguls” Business Insider. April 24, 2022.