Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is known for making headlines with his social media statements. In a recent post on X, Musk made a bold claim, stating that if Tesla becomes the world’s most valuable company, even billionaire Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, could potentially go bankrupt. The statement has reignited the long-standing feud between Musk and Gates. The conflict dates back to 2022 when Gates allegedly suffered a significant loss of $1.5 billion due to his short position on Tesla’s stock.
Musk posted on X, “If Tesla does become the world’s most valuable company by far, that short position will bankrupt even Bill Gates.” Musk’s statement was a response to an X user, Teslaconomics, who shared an old tweet from him. In the 2023 tweet, the CEO stated that taking a short position against Tesla, as Bill Gates did, would only yield the highest return if Tesla were to go bankrupt. Musk also claimed Gates had placed a massive bet on Tesla’s demise during a vulnerable period for the company. He further asserted that such a large short position can drive the stock price down, affecting everyday investors.
“To the best of my knowledge, Gates *still* has that massive bet against Tesla on the table. Someone should ask him if he does. The lack of self-awareness and hypocrisy of Gates who had the nerve to ask me to donate to his mostly window-dressing environmental causes, while simultaneously aiming to make $500M from Tesla’s demise,” the tweet read further.
When asked about his investment during a 2021 CNBC interview, Gates chose not to comment on his positions but instead praised Tesla’s achievements, saying “What Elon’s done with Tesla is fantastic”.
Taking a short position is a stock market strategy where an investor borrows shares they don’t own, sells them at the current price, and then aims to buy them back later at a lower price. The investor profits from the difference between the initial sale price and the lower purchase price, essentially betting on the stock’s decline.
Elon Musk’s assertion comes as Tesla’s current market capitalization is approximately $1.251 trillion, substantially lower than Apple’s $3.729 trillion. To surpass Apple and become the world’s most valuable company, Tesla would need to experience a remarkable growth of nearly 200%.