Elon Musk and Bill Gates are two of the most well-known names in the global technology and business world, but they are also known for not getting along with each other. Their disagreements which have played out over the years, resurfaced again when Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacted to a social media post linking Tesla short sellers to those lacking ethics and morality. “I’ve often found that Tesla short sellers don’t have the best moral compass,” an X user wrote quoting a New York Times report about Bill Gates apologizing to Gates Foundation staff over Jeffrey Epstein ties and admitting having affairs with two Russian women. Elon Musk replied with a brief comment — “Karma is real” — to the post.

Bill Gates’ bet against Tesla

The rivalry between the two originates from Bill Gates reportedly shorting, or betting against, Tesla’s stock to the tune of $500 million. In an interview with Musk biographer Walter Isaacson, Gates revealed that this earned him a personal text from Elon Musk and “super mean” behavior. The Tesla CEO at that time asked Gates bluntly if he had taken the short position, which the Microsoft cofounder confirmed, though he added in the message he wanted to talk about philanthropy possibilities.Musk did no agree with the idea and replied: “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”.

What is short selling

For those unaware, Short selling is a trading strategy in which investors bet on a company’s stock price falling. In this approach, an investor borrows shares and sells them at the current market price, hoping to buy them back later at a lower price. If the stock falls, the investor makes a profit from the price difference. However, if the stock rises instead, the investor faces losses, which can increase as the price goes up. Gates’ bet against Tesla had him underwater by $1.5 billion when the stock was trading at $400 per share, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk. the stock as of today are trading at $417 per share.

When Elon Musk said Bill Gates will go bankrupt

Reigniting his feud, Musk shared a post in late 2024 writing ““f Tesla does become the world’s most valuable company by far, that short position will bankrupt even Bill Gates”. Last year, on a victory lap after shareholders approved his massive $1 trillion pay package, the Tesla CEO said “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”.