Elon Threatens to Obliterate Bill Gates: "Cash Me Outside How Bow Dah!"

Elon Musk fired a direct shot at Bill Gates, telling the Microsoft nerd to stop betting against Tesla or face the music. And no, this isn’t some friendly game night drama—Musk means business.

As the ringleader of the Tesla circus, Musk envisions his electric car empire skyrocketing to a $30 trillion market cap, all thanks to a shift towards AI and robotics.

(Source: The New Yorker)

"Once Tesla fully solves autonomy and has Optimus in volume production, anyone still holding a short position will be obliterated," Musk tweeted, making it clear that not even Gates is safe from his warnings. If you imagined Musk cackling maniacally as he typed, you’re not alone.

This clash between Musk and Gates isn't new. Sparks flew in 2022 when leaked texts revealed Musk's reluctance to support Gates' climate initiatives after discovering Gates had a hefty $500 million short position on Tesla. Musk's response? A blunt, "Sorry, but it's hard to take your charity seriously when you're betting against the top climate change fighter."

(Source: CNN)

It's like the billionaire version of "I won’t join your club if you root for the Yankees." By the time those texts hit the news, Gates was already feeling the heat from his bearish bet. Whether he’s still in the game remains a mystery, but sources say they couldn’t get a word out of him—probably too busy checking his short position deteriorate on Robinhood.

Musk's bold "obliteration" claim comes at a time when Tesla’s had its ups and downs. Sales dipped 6.6% in the first half of the year, and the Cybertruck hype train hasn't quite pulled into the station yet. Even Musk had to scale back Tesla's ambitious goal of 20 million EVs by 2030.

But Musk doesn’t retreat easily. He’s taken down other high-profile shorts like David Einhorn and Jim Chanos, who famously bet against Lehman Brothers and Enron. Since April, Musk's been on a comeback tour.

He teased a new “CyberCab” robo-taxi reveal, hinting at cracking the autonomous driving code. Plus, he’s eyeing a return to EV growth with affordable models in 2025.

(Source: Notebookcheck)

To top it off, Tesla's Q2 report showed resilience—they dodged deeper sales slumps by clearing out surplus inventory.

This move fueled growth in Tesla's energy storage biz, setting records with 9.4 gigawatt-hours deployed. Investors have finally “got their swagger back” now that Tesla’s market cap has shot up by $200 billion during this 7-day win streak.

If you believe Musk can do for robots what he did for electric cars, his projections might make you bet the farm. Musk dreams of churning out a billion Optimus robots annually at $20,000 each, with production costs at $10,000—a sweet 50% margin.

That adds up to $1 trillion in yearly profits, and with a 25x earnings multiple, a market cap of $25 trillion. Add another $5 trillion from robo-taxis, and you’ve got serious value from Tesla's current $772 billion cap.

But before you imagine a robot assistant in every home, remember Musk’s optimism sometimes rivals “I’ll be home in five minutes.” Critics like short-seller Jim Chanos argue Musk’s forecasts rival nearly a third of the global GDP. So, maybe sprinkle some skepticism on those projections.

Musk's flair for the dramatic isn’t new. Recall his abandoned plan for 20 million EVs by 2030—most companies crunch numbers, but Musk just eyeballed it, assuming Tesla could replace 1% of the 2 billion cars already on the road each year. Spoiler alert: It didn’t quite pan out.

So, unless Musk backs up his big talk with solid stats, Gates and his short selling friends might just call his bluff. 

Stock.News has positions in Tesla.