Tesla CEO Elon Tesla declined to meet Bill Gates for a discussion on climate change philanthropy because he admitted that he still owns a short position in Tesla stock.
According to Teslarati, Gates suggested a meeting with Musk to discuss philanthropy possibilities, according to a series of text messages leaked. Musk declined after Gates admitted that he has not yet closed his short position on Tesla.
Musk said to Gates, “Sorry. I cannot take you philanthropy regarding climate change seriously when your short position against Tesla, which is the company doing most to solve the problem of climate change,” and declined to accept the invitation.
Although rumours abound that Gates had a short position in Tesla’s favor, he has never really confirmed that he invested any money in the automaker stock.
Gates declined to speak about his position in a CNBC interview from February 2021.
The co-founder of Microsoft said that he was not. He doesn’t talk about his investments but he should be proud of the work he has done.
Gates did however clarify his position in an interview just a few more days later. He basically admitted to shorting the stock.