War Of Words Between Gates And Musk, “conspiracy” Gates Alleged Also
London, May 5: Microsoft founder and top philanthropist Bill Gates has said conspiracy theories about him are “crazy” and called it was “awful” to be shouted at in public. In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC’s Today programme, Gates said the infamous meeting with American financer and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was a “mistake”. He also talked about Elon Musk’s recent public criticism of him. Gates, once the world’s richest person, a title now in the Tesla founder’s pocket, was last week accused by Musk of “shorting” Tesla stock — a way of making money by betting that a company will lose value. Musk also tweeted puerile insults towards Gates on Twitter, which he has bagged with a high stake bid.
“There’s no need for him to be nice to me,” Gates told BBC. Musk argued that shorting Tesla, a company that makes electric cars, undermines Bill Gates’ environmental philanthropy. Asked specifically about whether he had bet against Tesla, Gates replied: “That has nothing to do with climate change. I have ways of diversifying.”
He pushed back against the idea that shorting Tesla was environmentally damaging. “The popularity of electric cars will lead to more competition for selling those cars. So there’s a difference between electric cars being adopted, and companies becoming infinitely valuable.” Musk recently had a bid to buy Twitter accepted by the company’s board.
Asked what he made of the deal Gates said: “You know, Elon, I guess it’s possible Twitter could be worse. But it also could be better… So I have a wait and see attitude.” Gates has a particular interest in social media, not because that’s how he made his billions, but because he has become a focus of conspiracy theories, the BBC said. He has long been an advocate of vaccines – and has pumped billions into inoculation programmes around the world. His marriage of 27-year with Melinda Gates ended soon after he was named in Epstein affair. “I made a mistake ever meeting with Jeffrey Epstein. You know, maybe her (Melinda’s) instincts on that were keener than mine.”
“Any meeting I had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behaviour. So, that was a mistake.” Gates also said he’d been shouted at by conspiracy theorists on the streets. “Only recently I’ve been out in public, (and) some people yelled at me that I’m tracking them. And that, that’s an awful thing.” Gates and Melinda announced divorce last year. The couple had set up the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – one of the largest charitable organisations in the world.
