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Susan Walsh/AP; Mike Cohen/Getty Images for The New York Times
Bill Gates and Elon Musk don't exactly see eye-to-eye.
While the Microsoft billionaire and the Tesla and SpaceX titan have never had a particularly cozy relationship, things have heated up over the last six months as the two have openly sparred about everything from electric vehicles to the coronavirus.
The two moguls are currently among the world's wealthiest, eclipsed only by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. While their public spats may not always be serious, they do appear to fundamentally disagree about the coronavirus — and as two major players in the treatment of the virus and an eventual vaccine to protect against it, their public clashes carry even more weight.
Here's where the friction between Gates and Musk began and everything that's happened since.
Gates doesn't appear to be a fan of Tesla vehicles, and he's said as much publicly.Elaine Thompson/APIn February, Gates said during an interview with YouTuber Marques Brownlee that while Tesla has helped drive innovation and adoption of electric vehicles, he didn't buy a Tesla when making a recent vehicle purchase — he bought a Porsche Taycan.
Gates' comments didn't get by Musk, who tweeted that his conversations with Gates have always been "underwhelming."Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images
Source: Elon Musk/Twitter
But things really heated up in July when Gates publicly took issue with Musk's comments on the coronavirus pandemic.AP
In an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Gates criticized Musk's comments on the virus and implied that Musk shouldn't be speaking publicly about the pandemic at all.
"Elon's positioning is to maintain a high level of outrageous comments," Gates said. "He's not much involved in vaccines. He makes a great electric car. And his rockets work well. So he's allowed to say these things. I hope that he doesn't confuse areas he's not involved in too much."
Both Gates and Musk are involved in fighting the coronavirus, with Gates pledging $100 million to fight the virus via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Musk redirecting Tesla resources to source and produce ventilators and teaming up with German biotech firm CureVac, in which Gates is an investor, to make a device that will aid in vaccine production.
But since the virus outbreak in March, Musk has frequently downplayed the severity of the virus and strongly criticized stay-at-home orders. He's promoted the untested malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the virus, falsely stated that children are immune to it, and questioned data around coronavirus deaths. Musk also said March that there would be "close to zero new cases" by the end of April — the death toll in the US alone has now surpassed 200,000.
The comments struck a nerve with Musk, who took to Twitter to taunt Gates.Win McNamee/Getty Images
Musk jokingly posted multiple tweets about Gates, including, "Billy G is not my lover" and "The rumor that Bill Gates & I are lovers is completely untrue."
Tweet Embed://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1288722245280464896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
🎶 Billy G is not my lover 🎶
Earlier this month, Musk tweeted that Gates has "no clue" about electric trucks.Gus Ruelas/Reuters
In August, Gates wrote a blog post about electric vehicles that called into question whether it was practical to make vehicles like 18-wheelers fully electric. Though he didn't mention Tesla, the company does produce its own semi.
A few weeks later, a Twitter user asked Musk his opinion of Gates' comments, to which Musk replied: "He has no clue."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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