With a combined net worth of around $400 billion Elon Musk and Bill Gates are two of the most influential people on earth. It's a shame then that it appears they don't really like each other. Elon Musk has previously described conversations with Gates as "underwhelming" and publicly mocked him on Twitter on numerous occasions, most recently a few days ago.
It seems Gates recently tried to end the beef between the pair, texting Elon about "philanthropy possibilities" they could discuss. However, Musk quickly shot down the opportunity. He mentioned Gates' short position on Tesla, which is rumored to be in the region of $500 million.
The texts are real, as confirmed by Musk. It seems they were leaked by "friends of friends".
Gates has frequently spoken about Tesla and Musk in interviews. Although he often praises the automaker, in a February 2021 interview with Bloomberg he all but confirmed he shorted TSLA. Interestingly, for someone so into sustainability and climate change awareness, Bill Gates didn't drive an electric car until 2020. In an interview with YouTuber Marques Brownlee Gates mentioned that he bought a Porsche Taycan and it was his first electric car.
Elon Musk is currently the richest person on earth, with a $264 billion net worth. Meanwhile, Bill Gates is the fourth wealthiest with a $132 billion net worth. Gates was frequently the richest man on earth on numerous occasions from the 1990s to the mid-2010s.
