Inside The Beef Between Two Bigshot Billionaires: Elon Musk & Bill Gates

Elon Musk and Bill Gates are two of the wealthiest men on the planet (although Elon is facing major money problems), but, in recent years, that's about the only thing that links them together. They've been publicly feuding for quite some time now, and they've been anything but subtle about it. Sure, Musk and Gates are both tackling climate change through tech, but their methods couldn't be more opposed. From their clashes in the media to their personal disagreements over investments, the jabs just keep on flying with no real end in sight. What exactly happened to pit these billionaire boys against each other? The answer, it turns out, isn't so cut and dry.

Regardless of what transpired before and what has come after, the most significant event in this feud's history was in 2022. Gates, since stepping down from his role as Microsoft CEO, has been focusing his attention on his philanthropic efforts through The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — particularly in the areas of global health and climate change. Musk, on the other hand, has never been known for his charitable acts — rather, for his work with Tesla and SpaceX. When Gates reached out to Musk to talk about a possible philanthropic co-venture in 2022, things took a dramatic turn.

As Walter Isaacson's biography "Elon Musk" reveals, Musk wasn't impressed with Bill Gates' approach: Musk apparently told Gates, "Sorry, but 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."

Musk was referring to Gates' controversial decision to short Tesla's stock in the past, a move that Musk took as Gates betting that the electric vehicle company would fail. Musk was said to be furious that Gates, who championed environmental causes, had placed a $500 million bet against the success of Tesla: the very company that Musk argued was at the forefront of climate solutions.

All this in mind, Musk chose to turn down Gates and his idea for a philanthropic collaboration ... igniting a public feud in the process. "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, boggles the mind," Musk said on X.

Bill Gates did not let Elon Musk's harsh words go without a response, which only perpetuated the feud. Gates acknowledged the tension to the press, explaining, "Once he heard I'd shorted the stock, he was super mean to me, but he's super mean to so many people, so you can't take it too personally." Despite not having Musk on his side like he'd hoped, Gates remained focused on his broader philanthropic mission, saying that he was still committed to addressing climate change through innovative technology. "I'm putting billions of dollars into climate change innovation; I applaud Tesla's role in helping with climate change," Gates said (via CNN), attempting to take the high road at a Wall Street Journal summit.

Gates later doubled down, taking the feud to a whole other level by questioning Musk's decision-making after his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now X) in 2022. At the same summit, Gates seemed doubtful that Musk's leadership could come close to the same level of success as Tesla or SpaceX. He raised the question: "How does he feel about something that says vaccines kill people, or you know, that Bill Gates is tracking people — is that one of the things he thinks should be spread?"

Elon Musk, for his part, has taken these remarks quite personally. He's continued to insult Gates in public, doing childish things like posting unflattering picture of Gates to mock his billionaire rival. Clearly, Musk's hurt feelings have gone far beyond Gates' stock activity. It's now a culmination of years of building animosity over their differing views on business, innovation, and climate solutions. Their rivalry reflects the broader divide taking place in the billionaire class — some, like Musk, prioritize disruptive innovation over everything, while others, like Gates, focus on using their resources to support charitable causes and promote societal good. This Musk-Gates thing is only adding more fuel to the fire.

In the end, their ongoing feud appears unlikely to be resolved any time soon. Gates has made it clear that he has no intention of stepping away from his philanthropic efforts, even if Musk challenges his sincerity. "There is no one in our time who has done more to push the bounds of science and innovation," Gates remarked when others criticized Musk at a dinner in Washington, DC (via CNN). Yet, for all of Gates' attempts to bridge the gap with Musk, it seems that the two men's paths are destined to remain worlds apart. With no end to yet another one of Elon Musk's messy feuds in sight, each is sure to continue pursuing their own (radically opposing) visions for the future.