---
title: "Elon Musk Disses Bill Gates"
description: "When Bill Gates announced that he had bought Porsche's Taycan electric car, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to disparage his fellow billionaire."
date: "2020-02-18"
modified: "2020-02-18"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musks-disses-bill-gates-seemingly-buying-porsche"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "Bill Gates"
  - "elon musk"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk Disses Bill Gates

![When Bill Gates announced that he had bought Porsche's Taycan electric car, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to disparage his fellow billionaire.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/elon-musk-disses-bill-gates-buying-porsche-taycan.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Porsche\</em\>*

## Underwhelming

When Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced that he had bought Porsche's Taycan electric car, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to disparage his fellow billionaire.

"My conversations with Gates have been underwhelming," Musk [tweeted](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1229568241552502784>), in response to an account that [had mused](<https://twitter.com/tesletter/status/1229566583732760576>) about why Gates had chosen a Porsche over a Tesla.

## Context Collapse

As *Bloomberg* [pointed out](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/musk-calls-gates-underwhelming-after-billionaire-buys-a-porsche>), Gates also praised Tesla during the [same interview](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV2tMP37ygs>) with YouTube personality Marques Brownlee.

“And certainly Tesla, if you had to name one company that’s helped drive \[change in the auto industry\], it’s them,” Gates said during the appearance.

## Range Anxiety

But Musk seemingly took umbrage at Gates' complaint, during the same interview, that electric cars still have limited range compared to gas-powered ones.

He does seem cautiously optimistic about the Taycan, though, [tweeting in September](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1170264393801592832>) of last year that it "does seem like a good car."

**READ MORE:** [Elon Musk Calls Bill Gates Underwhelming After Billionaire Buys a Porsche](<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-18/musk-calls-gates-underwhelming-after-billionaire-buys-a-porsche>) \[*Bloomberg*\]

**More on Elon Musk:** *[Elon Musk Spotted Joyriding Around California In His Cybertruck](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-spotted-joyriding-california-cybertruck>)*

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)