In a wide-ranging interview with the Today program, Bill Gates said conspiracy theories were “crazy” about him, and being publicly scolded was “terrible.” He also told the Michal Hussein that meeting Jeffrey Epstein was a “mistake” and spoke about Elon Musk’s recent public criticism of him.
Last week, Musk accused Gates of “cracking” Tesla stock – a way of making money betting that the company’s value would fall. Mr. Musk also tweeted a childish insult to Mr. Gates on Twitter.
“He doesn’t have to be nice to me,” said Mr. Gates.
Mr. Musk claims that downsizing Tesla, an electric car company, undermines Mr. Gates’ philanthropy for the environment.
When asked if he was betting against Tesla, Gates said: “This has nothing to do with climate change. I have a chance to diversify.”
He rejected the idea that Tesla’s short circuit was harmful to the environment.
“The popularity of electric cars will increase the competition to sell these cars. So there’s a difference between EV adoption and the company becoming very valuable.
Mr. Musk recently had an offer to buy Twitter, which was accepted by the company’s board of directors.
When asked what he did with the deal, Gates said: “You know Elon, I think Twitter could be worse. But it could also be better.
Mr. Gates is interested in social media not because he makes billions from it but because it has become the focus of conspiracy theories.
He is a long-time proponent of vaccines – and has invested billions in immunization programs worldwide.
This fame made him the subject of strange and unfounded accusations that he was trying to track down people. Many theories were popularized on social media platforms and emerged during the pandemic.
“Sometimes you almost have to laugh because it’s so crazy,” he said. Gates also said conspiracy theorists on the street scolded him.