Gates Has Advice For Musk: Focus On Earthly Priorities, Not Mars Exploration

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he would not take a trip to Mars and would rather spend his money on life-saving vaccines. 

During a February interview with the BBC, Gates was asked whether he believes the Tesla CEO would ever join philanthropists like Gates, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, and Amazon's Jeff Bezos. 

"I think someday he will be a great philanthropist," Gates responded, noting that "things like Tesla have a positive impact even without being a form of philanthropy."

"But at the end of the day, I don't think he'll — other than going to Mars a few times … I don't think he'll spend it on himself," Gates added. "So yeah, someday I think he will join the rank of philanthropists using his ingenuity."

When asked if he thought going to Mars would be "a good use of money," Gates replied, "not in my view. It's actually quite expensive to go to Mars. You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for $1,000 per life saved." Adding, "And so just kind of grounds you, as in - don't go to Mars." 

The two billionaires have a history of not being on the same page regarding philanthropy. 

Last year, Musk said that he turned down teaming up with Gates on a philanthropic project after asking the Microsoft co-founder if he was short-selling Tesla. 

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A text exchange between the two that was leaked on Twitter in April 2022 showed Musk refusing to work with Gates on philanthropy or climate change initiatives, as Gates was trying to profit from a fall in Tesla stock.

Gates noted that he gives much more money to efforts addressing climate change than Musk or anyone else.

However, he acknowledged that Musk has "done a great job." 

"Tesla isn't short of capital, and the company has done a fantastic job. The company's cars are great," he said. 

"Somebody shorting his stock doesn't slow him down or hurt him in any way," Gates added.

Later, in a Twitter chat, Musk said Gates' Tesla short bet may have ballooned, and the latter would need about $1.5 billion to $2 billion to cover the short position.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has spent billions of dollars on developing and delivering vaccines to the world's poorest countries.

Musk made a $5.7 billion charitable donation in Tesla shares to the Musk Foundation in late 2021. Musk launched the foundation with his brother Kimball Musk. The foundation distributed about $160 million in 2021, according to Bloomberg.

Some elements of this story were previously reported by Benzinga and it has been updated.

Photo: Created using images from Greg Rubenstein and TED Conference on flickr.