Gary Zhou 
In the fight against climate change, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be aligned, but the two visionaries are known to disagree on different topics. Among these is the viability of large all-electric vehicles such as the Tesla Semi, which, due to factors such as battery weight, Gates thinks is impractical. On the other hand, Musk claims that vehicles like the Semi are the next great disruptor to conventional long-haul diesel and gasoline drivers.
Since Gates is a critic of the Tesla Semi, during his recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Elon Musk shocked the electric vehicle community when he mentioned that in the past, the Microsoft co-founder shorted TSLA stock. Musk noted that people who were familiar with the matter were told of Gates’ short position against TSLA.
Since then, during his interviews with the mass media, Gates has faced questions regarding Musk’s claims. When he was asked earlier this month about his alleged TSLA short on CNBC Squawk Box, the tech mogul seemed a little awkward, adding he was not talking about his investments. Gates was once again asked about his supposed brief stance against Tesla in a recent interview with Bloomberg.
As before, Gates’ response was very ambiguous, though he noted that he wished he had been a long TSLA investor in the past. These remarks were basically a confirmation to many in the electric vehicle community that Musk’s sources were correct, and Gates has shorted Tesla before.
“Well, you know, I think Tesla’s an amazing company. Uh, I wish I’d, you know, owned, been more on the long side. But, you know, it’s great. And you know, I have lots of relatives who own Teslas that I’ve helped buy for them. So you know, nothing but positive thoughts about Tesla and its role,” Gates said.
Though Gates may have been shorted Tesla before, the tech titan seems to have done an about-face on the EV business headed by Elon Musk. In his CNBC and Bloomberg interviews, this was evident as Gates stressed that the achievements of Tesla and Elon Musk are exceptional. It remains to be seen if Gates will soon also be a supporter of ventures such as the Tesla Semi, but at least for now, the co-founder of Microsoft seems to be optimistic of the EV company led by Elon Musk, to the point that he has helped some of his family members purchase their own Teslas.
Watch Bill Gates’ recent interview with Bloomberg in the video below.
Ready to join Tesla’s Mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy? Feel free to use my referral code to get some free Supercharging miles with your purchase: http://ts.la/guanyu3423
You can also get a $100 discount on Tesla Solar with that code.
