Bill Gates shorted Tesla, Inc. and now needs $1.5 billion to $2 billion to close, Elon Musk said in a series of tweets on Friday.

'Gates claimed to help solve global warming while shorting Tesla, Inc. for "billions of dollars. I think I have some trust issues with him," Musk said in a tweet.

Mr Musk said the position, at $500m, was growing after Tesla, Inc. 's "sharp rise".

Asked on CNBC last year if he had shorted Tesla, Inc., Gates said: "I won't talk about my investment." "

In late April, a suspected chat between Musk and Gates was posted on Twitter. Tesla, Inc. CEO Musk accused Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corp, of "shorting" Tesla, Inc. shares and canceled an agreed meeting with Gates, US Business Insider website reported on April 23.

The screenshot of the chat showed Gates talking to Musk privately about "philanthropy" about climate change, the report said. At the end of the chat, Musk questioned Gates whether he had "shorted" Tesla, Inc. with $500m, and Gates admitted. When Gates wanted to have a further discussion on philanthropy, Musk rebuffed: "you are so directed at Tesla, Inc., I really can't take your intention to cooperate seriously." "

It is reported that this is not the first time the two men have publicly quarreled. When Gates revealed in 2020 that he had bought himself an all-electric Porsche Taycan, one Twitter user asked: "I want to know why Bill Gates decided to buy Taycan instead of Tesla, Inc.." Musk responded on Twitter: "to be honest, my conversation with Gates has never been interesting. "