Bill Gates 'admires' Elon Musk but warns Tesla bubble could burst

Billionaire philanthropist refuses to say if he is short-selling shares of the electric carmaker

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates discusses his views on Elon Musk's electric carmaker Tesla in an interview with the BBC. AFP

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates says he “admires” Tesla chief executive Elon Musk but is sceptical the carmaker's valuation can continue to climb as the world transitions to electric vehicles.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Gates downplayed reports of a feud with the Tesla founder amid accusations he was short-selling, or effectively betting against, shares of the Texas-headquartered company.

Mr Musk surpassed Mr Gates to become the richest person in the world this year after Tesla's valuation skyrocketed following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Animosity between the two appeared to grow after Mr Musk accused the Microsoft founder of taking out a large position against his company, something Mr Gates has yet to deny.

Mr Musk has also previously directed insults at Mr Gates on Twitter, the social media platform which he now hopes to buy in a deal worth more than $40 billion.

“There's no need for him to be nice to me,” Mr Gates said, referring to Mr Musk in an interview with Mishal Hussein on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

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  Mr Musk unveils a new all-wheel-drive version of the Model S car in Hawthorne, California, in 2014. Reuters

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  Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Getty Images

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  Mr Musk with music producer Quincy Jones. AFP

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  The wealthiest person in the world with a worth of $274.3 billion, Mr Musk was named 'Person of the Year' by 'Time' magazine in 2021. Getty Images

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  Focus on Mr Musk's taxes grew last year as Tesla achieved a rarefied $1 trillion in market value. Reuters

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  The billionaire has hit back, saying he does not draw a salary from either SpaceX or Tesla, and pays an effective tax rate of 53 per cent on stock options he exercises. AFP

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  Then US president Barack Obama speaks to Mr Musk on a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2010. Reuters

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  Mr Musk during a television interview after Tesla's initial public offering at the Nasdaq market in New York, in 2010. Reuters

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  With former wife Talulah Riley at the 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards in London. Getty Images

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  With Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe after a test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D in Palo Alto, California, in 2015. Reuters

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  Mr Musk during the 67th International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016. EPA

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  From left: SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, Corning chief executive Wendell Weeks, then US president Donald Trump and Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky during a meeting at the White House. AFP

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  Mr Musk and former wife Grimes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in 2018. AFP

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  Mr Musk leaves a court in New York City, in 2019, after a hearing in a lawsuit brought against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Getty Images

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  A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is seen before Mr Musk gives an update on the company's Mars rocket Starship in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2019. Reuters

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  Mr Musk at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, last year. EPA

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  Dancing onstage during a delivery event for Tesla's China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai. Reuters

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  Mikey Day as a lawyer, Cecily Strong as a judge, and host Elon Musk as Wario during the "Wario" sketch on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', in May. Getty Images

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  Mr Musk with Armin Laschet, CDU party federal chairman and prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, talk during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide, near Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

However, he declined to say whether he was short-selling Tesla stock. “That has nothing to do with climate change. I have ways of diversifying”, he said when asked directly about the reports.

Tesla's share price stands at just more than $950, making it one of the most highly-valued companies in the world. But Mr Gates said increased competition in the sector could lead to a large fall in its value.

“The popularity of electric cars will lead to more competition for selling those cars. So there's a difference between electric cars being adopted, and companies becoming infinitely valuable.”

Mr Gates, who spends billions fighting climate change, said going into space was not a goal of his and his “dream” was to eradicate polio and malaria.

He also said he was trying to encourage other billionaires to spend more money on humanitarian causes, in an apparent reference to Mr Musk's SpaceX and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic projects that aim to make space technology more accessible.

“I'm going to encourage others who have been wildly successful like I've been to give back to the right causes — I think philanthropy can achieve a lot,” Mr Gates said.

In the wide-ranging interview, Mr Gates said he found conspiracy theories involving him “crazy” and that some people in the street had accused him of “tracking” them through vaccines.

“In some ways, you almost have to laugh because it's so crazy,” he said. “I mean, do I really want to track people? You know, I spend billions on vaccines, I don't make money on vaccines, vaccines save lives.”

He also said his dealings with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were a “mistake” and believed he could “absolutely” continue to run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with his ex-wife following their divorce last year.

Mr Gates, whose new book How to Prevent The Next Pandemic has just been published, also said the world will be “digging our way out” of the pandemic “for decades to come”.

“It's very unlikely that we'll go 20 more years without another outbreak that has a chance of becoming a global pandemic”, he said.