Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacted to claims that Bill Gates drastically cut one significant investment by angrily demanding that Gates reconsider his purported position on Tesla, according to EV.
On Saturday, the stock-focused X account Barchart (@Barchart) tweeted: "Bill Gates Foundation dumped 65% of its Microsoft $MSFT position for a total of $8.8 billion."
An appended screenshot detailed the Gates Foundation's third-quarter Securities and Exchange Commission disclosures in its Q3 Form 13F, indicating that the organization divested approximately 17 million Microsoft shares, decreasing its position by 64.91%.
In response, Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) joked that Gates was "covering his $TSLA short," even though Gates could not use money from the foundation to cover a personal investment choice.
$TSLA is Tesla's Nasdaq Stock Market ticker, and Gates acknowledged bad blood with Musk — the latter of whom rebuffed the former's attempts to collaborate on philanthropy — in 2022, after Musk learned of Gates' short position on Tesla.
In investing parlance, a "short position" or "shorting a stock" — as the film "The Big Short" deftly illustrated — is effectively placing a bet that a stock's value will drop.
When Musk saw Barchart's tweet about Gates' divestment from Microsoft, he fired back.
If Gates hasn't fully closed out the crazy short position he has held against Tesla for ~8 years, he had better do so soon
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2025
"If Gates hasn't fully closed out the crazy short position he has held against Tesla for ~8 years, he had better do so soon," Musk replied.
Of all the things Tesla's occasionally mercurial CEO dislikes, anyone shorting Tesla stock has long been at the top of the list.
In years past, Musk was afforded significant latitude to engage in fits of pique regarding Tesla, but 2025 has been uncharted territory for both the electric vehicle manufacturer and its CEO's public image.
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Tesla 🚙 As Musk became politically entangled in the United States, Tesla's sales suffered worldwide.
On Nov. 6, Tesla shareholders voted in favor of an eye-wateringly large compensation package for Musk over the coming decade — but analysts, experts, and even institutional shareholders challenged the board's position and the stock's value.
That stock value is up by over 7% in 2025, at over $408 as of publish time, but at one point in April, it hit a 52-week low of $214.25 during the height of public criticism of Musk's political activity.
In recent months, Musk has publicly feuded with President Donald Trump, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and others, but the stock has gradually rebounded.
On X, Musk's social media platform, most commenters appeared resolute in their support for the Tesla CEO.
"Bill would be wise to fix his mistake while he still can," one replied.
"I hope he keeps his short position and goes bankrupt very soon," said another.
"He won't close it because closing the position means admitting he's been wrong for 8 years," a third tweeted.
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