Elon Musk claimed that Bill Gates holds a large short position in Tesla, amounting to roughly 1% of the company’s total outstanding shares. According to Musk, the bet could have cost Gates more than $10 billion as Tesla’s stock surged over recent years.
The statement revives a well-known rift between the two billionaires. Gates has previously acknowledged shorting Tesla, arguing that the trade was purely financial, while Musk has repeatedly criticized the move as contradictory to Gates’ public stance on climate and clean energy.
If accurate, the scale of the position would make it one of the most expensive individual short bets in market history, underscoring the risks of betting against high-growth, sentiment-driven mega-cap stocks.
