Overview
- Posting on X, Musk said Gates shorted roughly 1% of Tesla’s shares and asserted the bet might now be down more than $10 billion as the stock hit a record $495 and neared a $1.7 trillion valuation.
- Whether Gates still holds the trade is unverified, with no public confirmation since the leaked 2022 exchange in which he acknowledged the short.
- Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography reported Gates had already lost about $1.5 billion over several years on the position.
- Musk has repeatedly urged Gates to exit the bet, including a November post after reports that the Gates Foundation sold 65% of its Microsoft stake in the third quarter.
- A short position can generate unlimited losses when a stock rises, a risk Musk highlighted as wealth rankings pegged his net worth at about $638 billion.