Tesla‘s chief Elon Musk said Wednesday that a short position Bill Gates allegedly holds against the company may have cost the Microsoft co-founder “over $10 billion by now.”
“Bill Gates placed a massive short bet against Tesla of ~1% of our total shares, which might have cost him over $10B by now,” Musk wrote on X after shares reached a new all-time high of $495, pushing Tesla‘s market capitalization to nearly $1.7 trillion.
Whether Gates currently maintains the position remains unclear.
The billionaire philanthropist has not publicly confirmed or denied holding the bet since April 2022, when leaked text messages showed him acknowledging it to Musk.
Musk’s post Wednesday came in response to an X post ranking the world’s wealthiest individuals.
Musk leads with a net worth of $638 billion, followed by Google co-founders Larry Page at $265 billion and Sergey Brin at $246 billion. Musk’s net worth has increased $205 billion year to date.
Tesla shares have gained more than 26% over the past 12 months and 105% over the past five years.
2022 Text Exchange
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 exchange’s authenticity.
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 Silence
Gates has consistently avoided discussing his investment positions publicly. When asked during a February 2021 CNBC interview whether he was shorting Tesla stock, he responded: “I don’t talk about my investments.”
Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Musk reported that Gates had incurred a $1.5 billion loss over several years from the Tesla short position.
Since the 2022 text message confirmation, Gates has not publicly addressed whether he maintained, increased, or closed the position.
Repeated Warnings
Musk has issued similar warnings in recent months. Last month, he urged Gates to exit what he described as a “crazy short position” held 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 at the time, responding to news that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had sold 65% of its Microsoft holdings in the third quarter.
Last year, when Tesla shares approached $430, Musk commented: “If Tesla does become the world’s most valuable company by far, that short position will bankrupt even Bill Gates.”
A short position involves borrowing shares and selling them at the current price, betting the stock will decline so the shares can be repurchased later at a lower price. Short sellers face theoretically unlimited losses because a stock’s price can rise indefinitely.
Billionaire Feud Escalates
The investment dispute is part of a broader conflict between the two billionaires.
In May, Gates accused Musk of “killing the world’s poorest children” through cuts to US development assistance enacted by the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk was leading back then.
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates told the Financial Times.
