Elon Musk has put Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates back in the spotlight for his long-standing short stance against Musk-led Tesla. The Tesla boss reignited the age-old dispute with a fresh remark on social media, suggesting Gates should settle the bet if he hasn’t already.
On Saturday, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is covering his short position in Tesla in response to news that the Bill Gates Foundation has divested 65% of its $8.8 billion Microsoft stock position.
In response to the post, Musk took aim at Bill Gates and warned him to reconsider his short position in Tesla. “If Gates hasn’t fully closed out the insane short position he’s held against Tesla for ~8 years, he should do so soon,” X wrote in a post on Sunday.
Past controversy between two billionaires
This isn’t the first time Musk has criticized Gates for his short bet against Tesla. Around the same time last year, Musk claimed that Bill Gates’ alleged short position on Tesla could potentially bankrupt the Microsoft founder.
Musk’s tweet boldly stated, “If Tesla becomes the world’s most valuable company by far, this short position will bankrupt even Bill Gates.
The dispute between the two tech billionaires dates back to 2022, when Gates reportedly suffered a $1.5 billion loss due to his bet on the performance of Tesla stock, NDTV reports.
While Musk previously accused Gates of making a “massive bet” on Tesla’s failure at a critical time for the electric car maker, he said the move could negatively impact ordinary investors by driving down the stock price.
What does a short position mean?
A short position, or short sale, is a trading strategy in which an investor bets that the price of a stock will fall. They borrow shares of stocks they don’t own, immediately sell them at the current market price, and then wait for the price to drop.
If the price eventually falls, the investor buys the same number of shares back at a lower price and returns them to the lender. The difference between the sale price and the purchase price goes to the investor’s pocket as profit.
How is Tesla stock doing?
Billionaire Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc.’s stock price fell nearly 2% on Friday, with shares now down nearly 10%, as shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk, according to Yahoo Finance.
Shares are currently up 0.59% at $404.35 in after-hours trading, according to the Nasdaq.
