Bill Gates Views Musk Agenda to ‘Put People on Mars’ as Imprudent Way to Spend Money

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) founder Bill Gates recently questioned the Mars colonization quest spearheaded by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. In a media session, Gates opined that Musk’s long-held ambition of colonizing Mars is not a good use of money. According to the Microsoft co-founder and former CEO, the Mars funds would better serve humanity by facilitating vaccine development. Gates also suggested that he does not consider his fellow billionaire a good philanthropist, given his current priorities. However, the former Microsoft chairman added that his view of whether the Tesla boss is philanthropic could change someday. 

Pointing to Musk’s most famous company, Gates explained:

“Things like Tesla are having a positive impact, even without being a form of philanthropy. I think someday he will join the rank of philanthropists using his ingenuity.”

Furthermore, on why funding vaccine development was a better use of resources than putting people on Mars, Gates said that “it’s actually quite expensive to go to Mars. You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for a thousand dollars per life saved.”

Emphatic in his assessment of priorities and the potentially rewarding feeling of positively impacting more lives, Gates concluded, “Don’t go to Mars.”

Mars Development Marks Latest’ Media Sparring’ by Bill Gates & Elon Musk

Bill Gates and Elon Musk have frequently butted heads over the years, even before the Mars colonization development arose. Last April, the Tesla CEO revealed he asked Gates if he was short-selling Tesla – betting that the EV company’s stock value would plunge. This development suggested that Musk felt the Microsoft co-founder was not in his corner.

However, in a previous instance, Gates took the high road when quizzed about whether he was indeed shorting Tesla’s stock. In a CNBC interview from February 2021, the seasoned American business magnate said:

“I don’t talk about my investments, but I think he should be very proud of what he’s done.” 

In a Bloomberg interview also two years ago, Gates covered a host of era-bound topics, including Bitcoin (BTC), Covid developments, and social media misinformation. The Microsoft billionaire’s reply seemed innocuous when asked about Tesla and Musk’s claims of shorting the TSLA stock. According to Gates at the time, he wished that he had “been more on the long side” of the EV company. 

In 2020, when Gates revealed that he purchased a fully electric Porsche Taycan, a Twitter user asked why the Microsoft visionary did not go for Tesla. Musk also expressed nonchalance to Gates’ EV automobile choice and hinted at a poor relationship between the two billionaires. According to Elon Musk at the time, “My conversations with Gates have been underwhelming [to be honest].” 

SpaceX

Musk has long harbored plans to transport people to Mars through his SpaceX exploration venture. So far, the spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and satellite communications corporation has spent aggressively to bring Musk’s vision to fruition. 

Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, intending to cut down on space transportation costs to enable Mars’ colonization. 

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