Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Twitter
Poppy Bilderbeck
Elon Musk has revealed he and Bill Gates are feuding by confirming a series of leaked text messages are real.
The Tesla CEO and co-founder of Microsoft have often previously found themselves in disagreements, over issues such as the amount of money being poured into outer space projects opposed to being spent on Earth, and how to best aid the coronavirus pandemic.
A series of screenshots of alleged text messages showing a frosty conversation between Musk and Gates have since been confirmed by the SpaceX founder as being genuine.
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Posted by EV news channel Whole Mars Catalog, the four screenshots show Musk asking Gates whether or not he still has 'a half billion dollar short position against Tesla?'
The Microsoft co-founder replied the following morning at 6:04am: "Sorry to say I haven't closed it out."
Instead, Gates tells Musk he would 'like to discuss philanthropy possibilities'.
Musk responds: "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."
A short position is when an investor sells stock with the hope the stock's value will decrease so they can buy it back later at a lower price.
Whole Mars Catalog stated it had 'no idea' if the text conversation was true.
In a later tweet it tagged Musk, asking the world's current richest man, "Is this real lol?"
Musk has since responded, confirming the leaked text conversation between him and Gates as being real.
However, the Tesla CEO clarified he wasn't the one who leaked it to NYT. "They must have got it through friends of friends," he said.
He continued: "I heard from multiple people at TED that Gates still had half billion short against Tesla, which is why I asked him, so it’s not exactly top secret."
Musk has previously revealed he heard Gates was betting against Tesla in the stock market in February 2021 while on Joe Rogan's podcast.
As well as Musk's confirmation of the frosty text conversation as being genuine, the Tesla CEO also recently took to Twitter to liken the co-founder of Microsoft to a pregnant man emoji, alongside the caption: "In case u need to lose a boner fast."
Tensions are clearly rising between the business magnates.
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