Gary Zhou 
When it comes to ventures and initiatives such as the Tesla Semi, Elon Musk and Bill Gates might not always see eye to eye, but the Microsoft co-founder recently gave a notable nod to his fellow billionaire. The tech giant acknowledged that Musk’s achievements are impressive in a portion of CNBC’s Squawk Box. He also responded to recent comments from the CEO regarding his supposed short position against Tesla stock.
When asked about Musk, Gates said that it is amazing what Elon Musk has done with Tesla, seeing as the electric car manufacturer has shown that EVs are feasible and are a vital part of the war against climate change. The co-founder of Microsoft noted that more Elon Musks are needed in the world, especially those who could work in other critical sectors like steel and cement.
“I think what Elon’s done with Tesla is fantastic. It’s, you know, probably the biggest single contribution to showing us that electric cars are part of how we solve climate change. And now, he’s got a carbon removal challenge. So we need more Elon Musks. We need one for steel and cement, and all the different categories,” Gates noted.
Elon Musk shared some fascinating tidbits about Gates’ reported investments during a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. He was told by people familiar with the matter that the Microsoft co-founder had a brief stance against Tesla, according to Musk. Musk noted that he is unsure whether or not the data he obtained was correct, although he lightly noted that such a short position would not work out too well if Gates had really taken it.
The host of CNBC’s Squawk Box asked the tech giant specifically to respond to Musk’s comment about his supposed short TSLA. Interestingly enough, the response from Gates was short. “Yeah, I’m not, I don’t talk about my investments, but I think he should be very proud of what he’s done,” the co-founder of Microsoft said.
Gates’ latest remarks about Elon Musk echo his claims during an appearance on the Sway podcast about the Tesla CEO. Gates noted that “underestimating Elon is not a good idea” when discussing his fellow billionaire.
Watch Bill Gates’ recent interview at CNBC in the video here.
