Elon Musk warned Bill Gates on Sunday to exit what the Tesla chief executive officer described as a “crazy short position” the Microsoft Corp. co-founder has allegedly held against the company for approximately eight years.
“If Gates hasn’t fully closed out the crazy short position he has held against Tesla for ~8 years, he had better do so soon,” Musk wrote on X.
Musk’s warning came in response to the disclosure that the Bill Gates Foundation sold 65% of its Microsoft holdings in the third quarter, divesting $8.8 billion worth of stock in the company Gates co-founded.
Whether Gates currently maintains a short position against Tesla remains unclear.
The billionaire philanthropist has not publicly confirmed or denied holding the bet since April 2022, when leaked text messages showed him acknowledging the position to Musk.
Tesla shares closed Friday at $404.35, down nearly 15% from a recent peak of $478.45 reached earlier this month.
However, shares remain up more than 26% over the past 12 months and have surged 148% over five years.
Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Musk revealed that Gates had incurred a $1.5 billion loss over several years from the Tesla short position.
A short position involves betting a stock’s price will decline by borrowing shares, selling them at the current price, and planning to repurchase them later at a lower price to pocket the difference.
Private Exchange Goes Public
The tension between the two billionaires became public in April 2022 when text messages between them leaked to the New York Times.
Musk later confirmed the authenticity of the exchange.In the messages, Musk asked directly: “Do you still have a half billion dollar short position against Tesla?” Gates responded: “Sorry to say I haven’t closed it out. I would like to discuss philanthropy possibilities.”
Musk rejected the overture, writing: “Sorry, 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.”
Gates’ Public Reticence
Gates has consistently avoided discussing his investment positions publicly. When asked during a February 2021 CNBC interview whether he was shorting Tesla stock, Gates responded: “I don’t talk about my investments.”
He also stated at the time that he neither shorted Tesla nor owned Bitcoin.The reluctance to discuss specific positions aligns with typical practice among major investors, who rarely disclose trading strategies that could move markets or invite scrutiny.
However, the April 2022 text messages — which Gates did not dispute — provided rare confirmation of the Tesla short bet.
Since that confirmation more than two and a half years ago, Gates has not publicly addressed whether he maintained, increased or closed the position. His silence leaves open the question that prompted Musk’s latest warning.
Past Warnings on Stock Surge
Last year, when Tesla shares were approaching a new all-time high near $430, Musk commented on the social media platform: “If Tesla does become the world’s most valuable company by far, that short position will bankrupt even Bill Gates.”
The stock briefly traded above $478 earlier this month before the recent pullback.
Short sellers face theoretically unlimited losses because a stock’s price can rise indefinitely, while gains are capped at the stock falling to zero.
