Overview
- On Feb. 26, Musk replied “Karma is real” on X to a user referencing a New York Times report on Bill Gates apologizing to Gates Foundation staff over ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
- The X post Musk answered claimed Tesla short sellers “don’t have the best moral compass,” explicitly linking the report to Gates’ past bet against Tesla.
- Gates has acknowledged shorting Tesla by roughly $500 million, a position that fueled private messages later detailed in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk.
- In those exchanges, Musk told Gates he could not take his climate philanthropy seriously while Gates held a large short against Tesla.
- Musk has repeatedly brought up the short in public posts, including a 2024 warning that the bet could be financially ruinous for Gates if Tesla’s valuation kept rising.