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Vishu Bheda
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Medial • 9h
𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁 $𝟯 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮. 𝗘𝗹𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗸 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗺. In 2022, Bill Gates reached out to Elon Musk. His goal? 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞—𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡. The meeting took place at Tesla’s 𝟏𝟎-𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐬𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞-𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧. Gates was impressed. Everything seemed fine. Until Musk asked one question: “𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚?” Gates had placed a $𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚.With leverage, the total position was $𝟑 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. His reason? "I talked to my financial advisors. Tesla is overvalued. I’m going to make money on the short." Musk’s reaction? 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟. "I thought you cared about climate change. Why would you bet against the company doing the most to solve it?" For Musk, 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲—𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.Betting against Tesla meant betting against clean energy. Gates saw it differently. To him, business and philanthropy were separate. Musk? 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. A few days later, Gates texted Musk, trying to restart the philanthropy discussion. Musk’s reply was 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭: "Sorry, but I can’t take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you short Tesla." Later, Musk told his biographer: "At this point, I am convinced he is categorically insane… I did actually want to like him (sigh)." The fallout was final. Two of the world’s greatest tech minds—𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝. Because their philosophies clashed: Musk: Solve problems through innovation and disruption. Gates: Solve problems through structured philanthropy and grants. But here’s the twist—𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝. And Gates’ short position? 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 $𝟏.𝟓 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. A costly mistake. A lost alliance. 𝐀 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. Follow Vishu Bheda for more such amazing business stories!
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