Elon Musk Warns Bill Gates Will Be 'Obliterated' if He Doesn't Change Course
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
Betting against Tesla is a losing proposition, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed on July 2.
Coming off a stock surge, Musk took aim at rival mogul Bill Gates while saying the company’s future will be even better.
“Once Tesla fully solves autonomy and has Optimus in volume production, anyone still holding a short position will be obliterated. Even Gates,” Musk posted on X.
Optimus is a robot Tesla is developing that Musk has said could make his company worth $25 trillion when it is ready for the market, according to Forbes.
😂
Once Tesla fully solves autonomy and has Optimus in volume production, anyone still holding a short position will be obliterated. Even Gates.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2024
In 2022, Musk revealed that Gates was short-selling Tesla stock. Short-selling is a tactic used when investors expect a stock price to fall. In a series of texts, Musk upbraided Gates for the tactic.
“Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change,” Musk wrote, according to Fortune.
On July 2, Musk revealed that Tesla deliveries dipped less than expected in the second quarter of the year, according to CNBC.
NEWS: Tesla showcased its second-generation Optimus humanoid robot at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Thursday, making it one of the few American AI products seen at China’s top AI show.
“The single Optimus shown at the Shanghai event attracted a lot… pic.twitter.com/CNUy1092ph
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) July 5, 2024
The company topped Wall Street estimates by selling 443,956 vehicles in the second quarter for a 4.8 percent decline from 2023, a much lower drop than the 8.5 percent dip in the first quarter.
That led to a 17 percent stock increase that cost short sellers, such as Gates, a potential $3.5 billion, data from S3 Partners indicated.
Betting against Musk looked like a good idea in April when the stock hit bottom, but since then, Tesla’s stock price has risen 73 percent.
Woah, @Tesla’s “one more thing”
A preview of the future ride hailing app for Cybercab/Robotaxi!$TSLA
pic.twitter.com/hohVkqSAHA— Matthew Donegan-Ryan (@MatthewDR) June 13, 2024
In the second quarter, Tesla offered a variety of incentives to buyers.
“Clearly the financing promos on both the Model Y and Model 3 drove considerable volume growth, but as we have seen with other sizable price cuts and discounts, demand is pulled forward and new demand must be created in 3Q and beyond, which has proven challenging over the last 18 months,” Ronald Jewsikow, an analyst at Guggenheim Partners, wrote in a client note on July 3.
Yeah, it’s awesome. Once you use Tesla Autopilot/FSD for commuting, you won’t use any other car. https://t.co/5qGBhcredR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2024
As Tesla battles to rule in the increasingly competitive EV market, Musk is looking beyond cars, through development and marketing of the Optimus humanoid robot and a “CyberCab” robotaxi, according to Fortune.
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