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Bill Gates vs Elon Musk | Battle Royale 2022 šŸ¹
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Bill Gates vs Elon Musk | Battle Royale 2022 šŸ¹

Wisdom Letter #138

Apr 24
2
Share this post
Bill Gates vs Elon Musk | Battle Royale 2022 šŸ¹
wisdomproject.substack.com

Musk vs Gates

So Elon Musk tweeted this yesterday šŸ˜†

Twitter avatar for @elonmuskElon Musk @elonmusk
in case u need to lose a boner fast
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April 23rd 2022

110,583 Retweets1,036,553 Likes

Within 24 hours, this has become Elon Musk’s best-performing tweet.

Ever!

Now that you’ve had quite a laugh, let me give you some context.

So Bill Gates reached out to Elon Musk to discuss ā€œphilanthropic possibilitiesā€ around climate change.

But Musk had a suspicion that Gates has a short position against Tesla.

Holding a ā€œshort positionā€ here means betting(and hoping) that a stock will go down in value.

So Bill Gates would make money if Tesla lost money.

Musk confirmed this suspicion and told Gates that he can’t take Gates’ philanthropy seriously when he’s shorting Tesla, the ā€œcompany doing the most to solve climate changeā€.

These are the leaked screenshots of the conversation:

Twitter avatar for @WholeMarsBlogWhole Mars Catalog @WholeMarsBlog
So apparently Bill Gates hit up @elonmusk to discuss ā€œphilanthropy on climate changeā€ but Elon asked if he still had a half billion dollar short position on $TSLA. Bill said he hasn’t closed it out, so Elon told him to get lost. No idea if this is true lol
Image
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April 22nd 2022

8,386 Retweets52,637 Likes
Twitter avatar for @elonmuskElon Musk @elonmusk
@WholeMarsBlog Yeah, but I didn’t leak it to NYT. They must have got it through friends of friends. I heard from multiple people at TED that Gates still had half billion short against Tesla, which is why I asked him, so it’s not exactly top secret.

April 23rd 2022

7,279 Retweets55,285 Likes

Elon Musk and Bill Gates are 2 of the greatest minds of our times.

Masters in science, technology, business. And yet they are at odds with each other.

So who is right and who is wrong?

If I were Elon, I wouldn’t work with someone betting against my company. And so I think he’s right in denying the offer.

But Gates has his reasons as well.

ā€œElectric Passenger carsā€ are not the most important problem to solve in terms of climate change.

As Gates says in this CNBV interview from last year, ā€œwe need more Elons, one for each industry. Industries like cement, steel, and meat.ā€

Billionaires can bicker amongst themselves, it’s good for gossip and Twitter chatter, but it doesn’t help us learn much about anything at all.

This is a good moment to learn actually which industries contribute the most to climate change.

This graph from ā€œOur World In Dataā€ is illuminating:

(source)

  • Energy and Industry - 24.2%

  • Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use - 18.4%

  • Energy in buildings - 17.5%

  • Road transport - 11.9%

This interactive report from the UN Environment Programme is about the top 6 sectors contributing to greenhouse gasses. And the numbers are quite similar.


Road transport - 11.9% - This is what Tesla is focused on right now.

But every industry will eventually need Lithium-Ion batteries.

And tons of them.

That’s what Tesla’s Gigafactories are working on. Watch Elon’s Ted interview from his latest project - Tesla Texas Gigafactory.

His vision for a sustainable energy economy.

Solving for transportation and then batteries and then eventually building solutions for every other industry is a smart way to approach the climate crisis.

Especially for private players. You can take on too many problems, you run the risk of spreading yourself too thin.

Elon is on the right track.

But this is not a one-man job.

Bill is right as well, we need many more Elons. Innovating across industries.

We need visionaries, scientists, engineers, and inventors like Musk to focus their energies on solving climate issues across the board.

And we need investors like Gates backing them with their immense wealth.

Nuclear Energy | The common ground

In this interview, Elon mentions that he’s not against nuclear energy.

Most people are too afraid to talk about nuclear energy. It’s dangerous and can be easily misused. It’s a political topic.
But nuclear energy may be our best bet for a long-term sustainable source of energy.

Apart from wind and solar.

Even Bill Gates has hope in Nuclear Energy.

This is one thing that both great men agree on.

Watch the Netflix documentary about Bill Gates, where he goes deeper into his vision for a sustainable future: Inside Bill’s Brain.


Related Reading:

This Friday was Earth Day. This is a good long read about Earth day:

  • The First Earth Day Changed the World. Here’s What We Can Learn from It. | Outside.

We’ve written about climate change before:

  • Deal With The Climate | Wisdom Letter #33

  • The Carbon Conundrum | Wisdom Letter #10


Support us

The Wisdom Project is made possible by the love and support of readers like YOU.

We put out quality content every week that helps you think better and live better.

Content that upgrades your mind.

You can further upgrade your thinking, your personal life, and your professional life by using our extremely actionable books and toolkits:

  • Mental Models for Busy Professionals - make better decisions in the areas that matter - Health, wealth, and relationships.

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  • The Solo Founder Playbook - The definitive guide to finding success as a solopreneur.

Do check them out and let us know what you think.


Update

Quick update on last week’s post:

Elon is well on his way to buying Twitter. Apparently, he has secured the funding to make the transaction.

Twitter avatar for @BubblebathgirlPaul A. Szypula @Bubblebathgirl
Elon Musk just ā€œsecured a $46.5 billion financing commitment to acquire Twitterā€ via a tender offer — bypassing the Twitter board so shareholders can vote on him buying their shares. Could Elon make the Twitter board look any worse? šŸ¤”

April 21st 2022

150 Retweets430 Likes

We will share more details as things become clearer.

In case you missed it, check out last week’s post for the whole story: Will Elon really buy Twitter?


More from us:

If you want to be a solopreneur, study these 16 people:

Twitter avatar for @ayushtweetshereAyush šŸ™ @ayushtweetshere
There's plenty of startup wisdom on Twitter. But not enough quality content around being a solopreneur. Working for yourself brings a unique set of challenges. I study these 16 "companies of one" closely for my business education. If you want to be your own boss, read this -

April 22nd 2022

11 Retweets85 Likes

Don’t wait to be found:

Twitter avatar for @ayushtweetshereAyush šŸ™ @ayushtweetshere
Whoever needs to hear this: Don't wait to be "found". It's a noisy world out there. You will have to be your own promoter and talk about your work. Share your knowledge and expertise in public. Make your own place in the world.

April 19th 2022

1 Retweet25 Likes

Any predictions?

Twitter avatar for @ayushtweetshereAyush šŸ™ @ayushtweetshere
Prediction: Things that will go obsolete in 50 years: - Full time employment - Centralized offices - Calling someone without their permission/appointment - Startups getting funded without revenue - People "finishing" school in their 20s What else?

April 21st 2022

19 Retweets156 Likes

This Week that year:

  • 5 Cognitive Biases Holding You Back | Wisdom Letter #86

  • Raising a Human | Wisdom Letter #34


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