Once highly praised, one of Bill Gates’ investment decisions turned into a disaster, resulting in losses exceeding $10 billion

More than anyone else, billionaire Elon Musk is the happiest about Gates’s heavy losses.

Bill Gates, one of the world’s most renowned philanthropists and investors, is facing one of the worst investment decisions of his career. According to recent revelations from Elon Musk on X, the Microsoft co-founder shorted approximately 1% of Tesla’s total stock when the company’s market capitalization was only $40 billion, equivalent to a position worth about $500 million.

This decision, made around 2018, has become a financial nightmare lasting nearly eight years. Musk claims that if Gates hadn’t closed the position, he would have incurred unrealized losses of over $10 billion as Tesla experienced phenomenal growth. Tesla’s market capitalization has skyrocketed from $40 billion to over $1.57 trillion today, ruthlessly crushing short sellers.

The feud between the two tech billionaires stems from this short position. In a leaked text message exchange from April 2022, reported by CNBC, Musk directly confronted Gates about the “half-billion dollar short position” and claimed that the billionaire had not yet closed the order.

At the time, Gates’ decision to short his Tesla position was widely praised as the stock of the renowned electric car company was experiencing unprecedentedly poor performance. From a peak of $400 at the end of 2021, Tesla’s stock had tripled, falling to $123 in early 2023.

However, since then, the tide has turned, and Tesla’s stock has consistently risen, even surpassing its previous peak of $400 and reaching a new high of $500. In November 2025, Musk once again stated: “If Gates hasn’t completely closed the crazy short position he’s held against Tesla for about eight years, he should do it soon.”

Musk’s text messages after learning that Gates was shorting Tesla.

What adds to the personal nature of this feud is the inconsistency that Musk points out. According to Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Musk, Gates confirmed shorting Tesla and admitted that this did not please Musk.

“Once he heard I had shorted the stock, he became extremely annoyed with me,” Gates told Isaacson. “But he’s extremely annoyed with a lot of people, so you can’t treat it as a private matter.”

However, Musk views this as a serious issue. In an X post from September 2023, he explained: “Opening a short position against Tesla, as Gates did, only yields the highest profit if a company goes bankrupt! Gates made a huge bet on Tesla’s demise when our company was at one of its weakest points a few years ago.”

Musk also revealed an even more shocking story in late 2025 and early 2026 posts, claiming that after he “rejected” Jeffrey Epstein, Epstein became enraged and launched a massive short-selling campaign against Tesla, even involving Gates in opening a 1% short position. However, this part is Musk’s one-sided statement, as there has been no public confirmation or denial from Gates or anyone else.

Musk’s gleeful post estimated that Bill Gates is losing over $10 billion short on Tesla.

Grok, an AI integrated with Musk’s X social media platform, estimates: ” Based on Elon’s assumption that Gates shorted 1% of Tesla when the market capitalization was $40 billion (a position of approximately $400 million) and still holds it, with the current market capitalization at around $1.57 trillion and accounting for splits/dilutions, the estimated unrealized loss is approximately $10 billion .”

It’s important to note that Gates never publicly confirmed the details of this trading position through SEC filings or other public documents. Wealthy individuals often use private trusts, family offices, and outside managers, and such arrangements can conceal specific short positions from readily accessible public records.

However, with Musk repeatedly and publicly demanding that Gates close his position and the lack of clear denial from the Microsoft co-founder, the market is witnessing one of the most intense personal confrontations between the two tech billionaires. Some on social media have commented: “If Gates had used his Tesla short money to buy more Tesla stock, he would probably be the richest man in the world.”