Donald Trump Isn't The Only Billionaire Elon Musk Has Made Shady Comments About

Bigshot billionaires Elon Musk and Bill Gates' years-long beef shows no signs of fizzling out any time soon. During a September 2025 appearance on the "All-In Podcast," the SpaceX founder all but confirmed that the celebrated philanthropist had gotten under his skin by simply offering his honest opinion on an ambitious project. When Gates dropped in to the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, he told Musk that he didn't think that Tesla's electric long-range semi-trucks would ever be a reality. Although Musk pushed back, pointing out that several big corporations were already making use of the technology, the Microsoft founder stood his ground and insisted that they weren't scientifically feasible. 

Obviously, Musk's ego couldn't accept that a technological expert could have a differing opinion. And so, they engaged in a back-and-forth about scientific details, from which the former government employee proudly claimed he emerged victorious. "You'd think he'd be really quite [...] strong in the sciences. But actually, my at least direct conversations with him have [...] He is not strong in the sciences," Musk sniped. In the past, the climate change activist also managed to get on the Tesla founder's bad side with a shady business move. 

In April 2022, Musk confirmed on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had bailed on a meeting with Gates to discuss climate change philanthropy after he admitted via text that he had a $500 million short on Tesla. When a trader takes a short position on a company's stock, they essentially seek to profit when its value inevitably plummets. After learning that fact, Musk unsurprisingly informed his rival that he couldn't engage in philanthropic discussions with someone who was counting on the downfall of his E-vehicle giant. 

When CNBC asked Bill Gates if he had indeed taken a short position on Elon Musk's brainchild, during a February 2021 interview, the billionaire businessman declined to talk about his investments. Instead, Gates praised Tesla for demonstrating how electric vehicles could be instrumental in solving climate change. What's more is that the Microsoft founder appeared to hold some admiration for his fellow billionaire, sharing that he wished the world had more entrepreneurs like Musk. And yet, Gates was a little less complimentary when he discussed Tesla with the New York Times in May 2021. 

Although the prolific philanthropist once again acknowledged that Musk's company had been a game-changer for climate change action, he still felt that it was too heavily focused on the "easy stuff" since the meat, steel, and cement industries posed a far bigger threat to the environment. Then, while Gates was chatting with Hugo Decrypte in June 2022, he made a bold remark that would definitely have irked Musk. "I give a lot more money to climate change than Elon Musk or anyone else," Gates asserted (via X). 

The tech billionaire later added, "[Elon's] done a great job, but somebody shorting the stock doesn't slow him down or hurt him in any way." Unsurprisingly, one of Musk's messiest feuds continued years later. In a December 2024 tweet, the SpaceX founder boasted that his fellow businessman could face bankruptcy if Tesla's value continued rising and gravely undermined his short position. Even with all that shade, the drama still didn't hold a candle to Musk and Mark Zuckerberg's feud and all its strange moments.