What would occur if Elon Musk and Invoice Gates, each of whom have held the title of the world’s richest individual at totally different instances, meet in individual and talk about enterprise points? Walter Isaacson’s forthcoming biography of Musk – “Elon Musk” – affords a candid perception into the intriguing assembly that passed off in early 2022 between two tech titans. Based on Isaacson’s ebook, this encounter was marked by passionate discussions about philanthropy, the feasibility of electrical vans, formidable prospect of colonizing Mars, and heated exchanges over Gates’ shorting Tesla shares.
As per Isaacson’s account, the assembly passed off at Musk’s Austin, Texas, plant, the place Musk confronted Gates about his choice to brief Tesla inventory. Though Gates apologized for his actions, which value him $1.5 billion, Musk remained upset and exhibited a harsh demeanor towards the Microsoft founder.
Throughout Gates’ go to, Musk gave him a tour of his Austin manufacturing unit, which left a optimistic impression on Gates. Nevertheless, they nonetheless had important disagreements to handle.
When questioned by Isaacson about his causes for shorting the inventory, Gates merely expressed a need to revenue from it, a perspective that Isaacson discovered perplexing given Musk’s robust dedication to sustainability.
Grimes, Musk’s girlfriend and the mom of three of his youngsters, characterised the incident as a “d**k-measuring contest.”
Gates additionally criticized Musk’s beliefs, together with his confidence in photo voltaic power’s means to fight local weather change and the feasibility of batteries powering semi-trucks. Gates was skeptical of Musk’s ambition to colonize Mars, contemplating it far-fetched.
The 2 clashed considerably on the subject of philanthropy, with Musk dismissing it as “bulls**t” and asserting that solely a small portion of donated funds really make an influence. Gates tried to showcase a number of tasks he had funded with $100 million, which had produced substantial outcomes.
Gates, who ranks because the world’s third richest particular person after Musk and Jeff Bezos, criticized Musk when Tesla introduced a $1.5 billion funding in Bitcoin, expressing concern about Bitcoin’s volatility.
Gates had additionally beforehand questioned the viability of electrical vans just like the Tesla Semi, a press release Musk rebutted throughout an interview on the Joe Rogan Expertise. Musk claimed that he had heard that Gates had a considerable brief place on Tesla inventory at one level, which shocked him.
(With inputs from companies)