Elon Musk Delivers Formal Ultimatum to Bill Gates: Promptly Liquidate Tesla Short Positions
On November 17, 2025, Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Inc., formally issued an ultimatum to William H. Gates III, demanding immediate liquidation of all short positions held against Tesla securities. Mr. Gates had personally acknowledged these positions to Mr. Musk during confidential discussions several years prior.
While Mr. Gates has maintained a skeptical stance toward Tesla's business model, he concurrently engaged in preliminary discussions with Mr. Musk regarding potential philanthropic collaborations during the same period when he disclosed his short positions in Tesla equity instruments.
As documented in Walter Isaacson's authorized biography of Elon Musk, the Tesla executive adopted an notably dismissive demeanor toward Mr. Gates during their interactions. At that time, Mr. Gates had committed approximately $500 million to shorting Tesla shares, anticipating price depreciation - a position that has since proven fundamentally flawed, with Tesla's share price appreciating over 6% year-to-date and nearly 150% over the preceding five-year period.
During Tesla's most recent annual general meeting of shareholders, Mr. Musk presented comprehensive strategic roadmaps for multiple transformative initiatives, emphasizing their potential to redefine industry paradigms across multiple sectors. Separately, the board of directors recently approved an executive compensation package with a potential value of $1 trillion, structured in twelve tranches contingent upon both enterprise valuation milestones and product-specific performance metrics.
Notably, Mr. Musk's prior compensation plan - though having satisfied all performance criteria - was ultimately not implemented due to a judicial ruling by the Delaware Court of Chancery. The current proposal received overwhelming shareholder approval with 76.6% of votes cast, reflecting substantial investor confidence in his leadership capabilities.
Following public disclosure that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had divested approximately 65% of its Microsoft holdings for $9 billion, Mr. Musk issued his final formal directive: immediate closure of all Tesla short positions, with explicit warning of potential adverse consequences should this instruction remain unheeded.
The underlying tension between these two business leaders originates principally from Mr. Musk's profound disapproval of Mr. Gates' sustained short positions against Tesla. However, some analysts suggest that Mr. Musk's decision to provide advance notice - rather than allowing market forces to impose losses - may indicate an uncharacteristic measure of professional courtesy between these two industry figures.