[imagesource: Imaginechina | AP]

That photo above, showing Elon Musk and Bill Gates shaking hands and smiling, was taken back in 2015.

You get the distinct impression that if they crossed paths again, things might not be so affable.

As it stands, using the Forbes real-time tracker as a metric for wealth, the world’s seventh-richest man seems unimpressed with the world’s third-richest man.

We know this because Musk tweeted this over the weekend:

You’ll find far nastier exchanges on social media, but it’s clear that Musk is not a big fan.

Their ‘beef’, for lack of a better word, is well-documented, and in February, Musk said that his conversations with the Microsoft founder had been “underwhelming”.

That time the dig stemmed from the fact that Gates bought an all-electric Porsche Taycan, rather than a Tesla.

It seems that Musk has a rather fragile ego, on show again with his latest tweet. This via CNN:

Gates detailed his thoughts on electric vehicles in a blog post in August, explaining why he was dubious about the potential for EVs as long-haul vehicles. His reason: “batteries are big and heavy.”

…The philanthropist steered instead towards “cheap, alternative fuels” — particularly biofuels — as a possible viable solution for commercial vehicles. But he gave credit to legacy automakers GM and Ford and new carmarkers Rivian and Bollinger for their advancements in producing all-electric pick-up trucks.

Telsa was not mentioned on the list.

Shame, Elon.

I’m sure his comments have nothing to do with the fact that Gates sits a few places higher on the list of the world’s wealthiest people.

For now, at least.

[source:cnn]