Source: Caixin News

Author: Xiaoxiang

On Tuesday, December 10, local time in the USA, the ongoing feud between the two top billionaires, Musk and Bill Gates, seems to continue. That day, Musk jokingly stated on the X platform that the short position on Tesla held by Gates might ultimately lead to his bankruptcy.

Musk wrote in response to a tweet on X: "If Tesla really becomes the highest valued company in the Global Market Cap, then these short positions might even cause Bill Gates to go bankrupt."

Musk referred to Gates spending billions of dollars shorting Tesla several years ago.

According to the biography of Musk published by Walter Isaacson in 2023, Gates holds an undisclosed short position on Tesla, reportedly worth billions of dollars.

At the end of 2023, Musk also indignantly stated on X, "A few years ago, when our company was at one of its weakest moments, Gates bet that Tesla would go bankrupt. Such a large short position has caused ordinary investors to also suffer losses from the stock price drop, as far as I know, Gates is still betting that Tesla will go bankrupt. Someone should ask him if he is still doing so."

Musk also pointed out at the time: "Gates lacks self-awareness and is hypocritical to an astonishing degree; he dares to ask me to donate to his largely superficial Eco-friendly Concept initiative while hoping to make 0.5 billion dollars from Tesla's bankruptcy..."

It remains unclear whether Gates has since increased or reduced his short bets against Tesla.

Since the beginning of this year, Tesla's stock price has risen by 62.5%, largely benefiting from Republican candidate Trump's victory in the USA election, while Musk, an admirer of Trump, has been increasingly close to the new government.

Currently, in terms of wealth, according to the statistics from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk remains in first place with a net worth of 376.2 billion USD, while Gates ranks sixth with a wealth of 165.9 billion USD.

It is noteworthy that these two individuals, both of whom have once topped the world's richest list, have publicly clashed in more ways than just shorting Tesla. From their attitudes towards the COVID-19 pandemic, views on electric trucks, to entanglements surrounding AI, and evaluations of one another, they have had significant disagreements in recent years. Some industry insiders have speculated that the vengeful Musk, after taking a prominent position in Trump's team, might 'take revenge' on some of his business rivals.

Regarding the shorting of Tesla, Gates responded in a 2022 interview saying: 'Tesla is doing great. My investment in climate change is greater than Musk's or anyone else's. He is doing well, but those who short the stock haven't dragged him down or hurt him in any way.'

Gates later also stated, 'When he found out I shorted his stock, he became particularly harsh with me, but he is quite harsh with many people, so you can't take it too seriously.'

Editor/Rocky