Elon Musk rejected ‘hypocrite’ Bill Gates’ attempt to offer him advice on philanthropy and called him an ‘a**hole to the core’, new biography reveals

Still furious about his shorting of Tesla shares last year, Elon Musk rebuffed an attempt by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to give him philanthropy advice, calling him a “hole to the core” in a text message to his biographer.

The feud started when Gates visited a Tesla factory in Austin, Texas in March 2022.

Gates had tried to make a profit by shorting Tesla shares, predicting that the company would fall in value. It was a move that ultimately cost him $1.5 billion.

Musk, furious that he had bet against the company while claiming to be an eco-warrior himself, confronted him and Gates apologized, but the damage had already been done.

Musk gave Gates a tour of his Austin factory, which impressed Gates, but the two still had a lot to discuss during his visit.

“He was super mean to me,” he recalled.

A few months later, Gates emailed Musk a list of philanthropic causes to consider.

Musk responded by asking if he still retained the short position against Tesla, which Gates did, and then declined the offer to collaborate.

‘Sorry. “I can’t take your climate philanthropy seriously when you have a huge short position on Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change,” he said.

He later sent a text message to biographer Walter Isaacson, calling Gates “categorically insane” and “a hole to the core.”

“I actually wanted to like him (sigh),” he wrote.

When Gates first asked for the meeting, Musk responded by saying he had no planner or personal assistant, and told Gates to have his secretary call him directly.

Gates bypassed his secretary and scheduled the meeting for March 9, 2022.

Musk gave Gates a tour of his Austin factory, which impressed Gates, but the two still had a lot to discuss during his visit.

When Isaacson finally pressed Gates on why he was shorting the stock, he simply thought he could make money by doing so, which Isaacson called “alien” for Musk.

“How can someone say they are passionate about fighting climate change and then do something that reduces the overall investment in the company that does the most?” Gates asked Isaacson days after Gates’ visit.

‘It’s pure hypocrisy. Why make money from the bankruptcy of a sustainable energy car company?’

Grimes, Musk’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of three of his children, called the incident “a little ad**k measuring contest.”

Gates was also critical of Musk’s belief that solar energy could solve climate change and that batteries could one day power semi-trucks.

“I showed him the numbers,” Gates said. “It’s an area where I clearly knew something he didn’t.”

Musk lambasted Gates’ physique on Twitter, posting a photo of the Microsoft mogul next to Apple’s controversial pregnant man emoji “in case you need to kill a boner.” It was after he heard about his short against Tesla

Gates also spoke derisively about Musk’s attempt to colonize Mars.

“I’m not a Martian person,” Gates told Isaacson. ‘He’s overboard on Mars. I had him explain his Mars thinking to me, which is quite bizarre thinking. It’s this crazy thing where maybe there’s a nuclear war happening on Earth and so the people on Mars are there and they’re going to come back and, you know, still be alive after we all kill each other.”

Where the two really fell out was over philanthropy, which Musk said was “bulls**t” and that only 20 cents of every dollar he donated would actually have an impact.

Gates tried to show him some projects he had spent $100 million on and seen a big impact.

There’s a low-key feud bubbling between the pair, much of which seemingly stems from the Texas meeting.

Musk previously lambasted Gates’ physique on Twitter, posting a photo of the Microsoft mogul next to Apple’s controversial pregnant man emoji “in case you need to kill a boner.”

Gates, the third richest man in the world after Musk and Jeff Bezos, took a shot at Tesla CEO earlier this year after the electric vehicle maker announced it had taken a $1.5 billion stake in Bitcoin.

“Elon has a lot of money and he is very sophisticated, so I don’t worry about his Bitcoin going up or down randomly,” Gates told Bloomberg.

“I think people are getting caught up in these manias when they may not have that much money to spare, so I’m not bullish on Bitcoin. My general thought would be that if you have less money than Elon, you should probably be careful,” he said.

Gates has also previously commented on electric trucks like the Tesla Semi not being viable, which Musk took issue with.

In an interview about the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk said he believes the Microsoft founder once had a large short position in Tesla stock.

‘I heard that at one point he had a large short position. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it seems weird,” Musk told Rogan.

“People I know who know the situation quite well, I asked them, ‘Are you sure?’ and they said, ‘Yes, he has a huge short position on Tesla.’ That didn’t work out so well.’

Isaacson’s book, which will be published on Tuesday, contains several revelations about Musk.

SpaceX founder Musk and Canadian musician Grimes in 2018

The billionaire CEO of Tesla, X and Space

In response to the accusation, Musk said that while he did not order engineers to turn off the satellite system, he refused Kiev’s request to turn it on because, he said, he “wanted to avoid being complicit in a major act of war.” .

The world’s richest man, in the early days of the Russian invasion in February 2022, began providing free access to Space

But late last year his enthusiasm began to wane and he became increasingly concerned about taking sides. Ultimately, he ordered the internet shut down to stop a ‘kamikaze drone’ submarine attack on Russian warships.

In another revelation, Isaacson, who observed Musk through the difficult days of his Twitter acquisition, told a Twitter Spaces event on Thursday that Musk had a “maniacal sense of urgency” that scared his employees.

The writer, who has also published biographies of Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci, said Musk often flew into anger with employees during his early days at Twitter, when he fired more than half of the workforce.

“He would go dark and I would know he was just going to tear that person apart,” Isaacson recalled.

The writer, who has also published biographies of Steve Jobs and Leonardo da Vinci, said Musk often flew into anger with employees during his early days at Twitter, when he fired more than half of the workforce.

“He would go dark and I would know he was just going to tear that person apart,” Isaacson recalled.