A set of texts between Elon Musk and Bill Gates reveals an interesting conversation and real-world consequences of investments.
Gates reached out to Musk about philanthropy on climate change and was shut down due to his short position on Tesla.
It appears that the two were trying to arrange a time to chat.
However, Musk then asked Gates if he still had a half-billion short position on Tesla.
When Gates responded that he had not closed that position, Musk shut him down.
Musk noted that:
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.
The text chain is limited, but Elon confirmed the texts on Twitter.
However, Musk did confirm that he did not leak the texts to the New York Times.
Yeah, but I didn’t leak it to NYT. 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 (@elonmusk) April 23, 2022
As per knowing about Gates’s short position on Twitter, Musk heard it from multiple people at TED and asked Gates about it.
The screenshots of the texts look to have come from an iPhone and on Gates’s side. As Elon’s messages back to the former Microsoft CEO are green.
Gates, of course, has a host of philanthropic causes through the Gates Foundation. The foundation focuses on fighting inequality, poverty and disease.
Bill Gates nor the Gates Foundation have commented on the leaked texts.
