Bill Gates Says Shorting Tesla Not A Statement About Climate Change

Microsoft Corp MSFT co-founder Bill Gates on Wednesday indirectly responded to his stand on whether he was half a billion-dollar short on Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc TSLA.

What Happened: The 66-year-old entrepreneur and investor said his position on Tesla — short or long — does not define his dedication toward climate change initiatives.

“I don’t think whether one’s short or long Tesla is a statement about your seriousness about climate change,” Gates said at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit.

“I have nothing but positive things to say about Elon. If he makes Twitter worse, fine, I’ll speak out about that, but I wouldn’t assume that’s what’s going to happen.”

See Also: Leaked Texts Show Elon Musk Confronting Bill Gates About Shorting Tesla

Why It Matters: Gates’ comments follow a leaked exchange between him and Musk where the world’s richest man asked him about his short position against Tesla. Musk later confirmed the development on Twitter. 

The leaked messages show Gates has still not closed out his short position in the electric-car maker and he instead wanted to discuss philanthropic possibilities. 

Musk reportedly replied, "Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive, short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change."

In February 2021, Musk said on Joe Rogan’s podcast that he heard Gates was betting against Tesla in the stock market.

Around the same time, in an interview, Gates praised Musk’s contribution to mitigating climate change and how he is managing Tesla on various fronts. 

Price Action: Tesla closed 4.77% higher at $952.6 on Wednesday.