by Tyler Durden
Thursday, May 08, 2025 - 11:57 AM

Update (1257ET): Elon Musk responded to Gates on Thursday, saying "Gates is a huge liar" in response to Gates' assertion that "DOGE will cost 2 million lives."

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has reignited his ongoing feud with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, accusing the world’s richest man of “killing the world’s poorest children” through funding cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) overseen by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Gates's comment targeting Musk is the latest salvo in the pair's longstanding beef.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday, Gates pointed to the slashing of grants to a hospital in Mozambique’s Gaza Province, claiming the cuts have undermined efforts to prevent mothers from passing HIV to their newborns. “The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates said, adding, “I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money.”

Notice a messaging trend?

According to Musk, Gates once approached him to “discuss philanthropy possibilities,” but Musk rebuffed the overture, citing Gates’ $500 million short position on Tesla stock, which Gates confirmed he has not closed. “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 texted Gates, per the Tesla CEO’s account.

Gates has also taken swipes at Musk’s financial decisions after Tesla announced a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin. Speaking to Bloomberg, Gates said, “Elon has tons of money and he’s very sophisticated, so I don’t worry that his Bitcoin will sort of randomly go up or down.” He cautioned retail investors, however, saying, “If you have less money than Elon, you should probably watch out.”

In 2022, Musk publicly mocked Gates on X, tweeting a meme that compared the Microsoft co-founder to an emoji depicting a pregnant man.

Gates' comments targeting Musk coincide with his announcement that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest over $200 billion in the next 20 years to advance its public health mission, with plans to cease operations by 2045.

"In our first 25 years, fueled partly by Warren Buffett’s generosity, the Gates Foundation distributed over $100 billion," Gates stated, adding "We aim to double that impact in the next two decades."

Founded in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation began the same year Bill Gates stepped down as Microsoft CEO. In 2024, Melinda French Gates departed the foundation, three years after the couple’s divorce.