In a sudden turn of events, Bill Gates actually complimented Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his company’s efforts on combatting climate change. The comments came just days after Musk said that the the American business magnate may have lost a lot of money after having a huge short position on Tesla that “didn’t work out too well.”
Elon Musk and Bill Gates have had a history of not agreeing on things. Gates was previously noted making comments about electric trucks not being viable. Musk basically called Gates out saying that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and more recently said that he was told Gates had a big short position on Tesla (TSLA) at some point.
Although Gates has yet to confirm or deny Musk claims regarding his alleged short position on Tesla, the Microsoft co-founder is now speaking quite highly of Tesla and its CEO.
When asked about Musk on the Sway podcast, Gates responded: “Well, it’s important to say that what Elon did with Tesla is one of the greatest contributions to climate change anyone’s ever made.”
Gates also added that people shouldn’t be so quick to underestimate him: “And you know, underestimating Elon is not a good idea.”
As it has been know, at times, Tesla has been the most shorted stock on the Nasdaq. Some people learned the hard way not the bet against Tesla last year as those who did, lost upwards of $38 billion collectively in 2020 alone.