Musk Calls Gates ‘Categorically Insane,’ an ‘A**hole to the Core’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk raged against Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for shorting Tesla stock, questioning Gates’s commitment to environmental sustainability. These revelations come from a new Musk biography written by Walter Isaacson, in which Musk calls Gates an “asshole to the core” who is “categorically insane.”

The feud between Musk and Gates has been public knowledge for some time. It centers on an incident when Gates shorted Tesla stock, betting that the company’s value would go down based on Musk’s erratic leadership.

The two met in March 2022 at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin to discuss philanthropy, but the conversation took a bitter turn. “Once he heard I’d shorted the stock, he was super mean to me,” Gates told biographer Isaacson. “But he’s super mean to so many people, so you can’t take it too personally.”

Musk’s take on the meeting was more blunt. He sent Isaacson a message reading, “At this point, I am convinced that he is categorically insane (and an asshole to the core). I did actually want to like him (sigh).”

Gates justified his bearish stance on Tesla by stating that he believed the supply of electric vehicles (EVs) would soon outweigh demand. For Musk, who views Tesla as a leading force in combating climate change, Gates’ actions were unforgivable. “How can someone say they are passionate about fighting climate change and then do something that reduced the overall investment in the company doing the most? It’s pure hypocrisy,” Musk expressed after the meeting.