You Have To Make Cars That People Want: Warren Buffett On Elon Musk And Tesla

Legendary investor Warren Buffett praised Tesla Inc TSLA and its CEO Elon Musk in an April 2022 interview.

What Happened: Despite the 65% drop in the price of Tesla's stock in 2022, shares are still up over 424% over the last five years. 

Former CBS journalist Charlie Rose asked Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) CEO Warren Buffett about his thoughts on Tesla and the company's accomplishments during an April 14, 2022 interview.

“That shows what America produces,” Buffett said.

Buffett added all the other automotive companies have products, but Musk is finding a way to beat the legacy automakers. “Taking on General Motors, Ford, Toyota Motors that have all this stuff. He’s got an idea, and he’s winning.”

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Why It’s Important: Buffett said that there are a lot of companies that produce cars, but ultimately you have to be the one who makes cars that people want.

Buffett also acknowledged during the interview that we should be doing more to fight climate change, but didn't elaborate on the impact of electric vehicles.

“If there’s a 1% chance (we can fight climate change), we should be doing something.”

As of January 2023, Buffett is worth $111 billion, ranking him as the sixth-wealthiest person in the world. Over the last few years, Buffett was passed by Musk, who is the world’s second-richest person, worth an estimated $132 billion.

Originally published April 23, 2022.

Photo: Created with images from Fortune Live Media and Haddad Media on Flickr