"Stop Wasting Money!"... Bill Gates Publicly Targets Musk

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunha] Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, sharply criticized Tesla CEO Elon Musk's plan to migrate to Mars as a "waste of money" in an interview with the BBC released on the 3rd (local time).

When asked, "Do you think Musk qualifies as a philanthropist?" Gates replied, "I don't think so at the moment," but added, "That could change in the future."

Photo by Yonhap News

However, he expressed skepticism about Musk's spending direction. When asked, "Is going to Mars a good use of money?" he answered, "Supporting vaccine development would be a better use of cash than sending humans to Mars."

This was aimed at Musk, who leads the space exploration company SpaceX and aggressively invests with the goal of human settlement on Mars by 2050. Musk announced in 2002 that his goal was to make Mars a human colony.

Gates said, "Sending people to Mars is expensive, but supporting vaccine development can save a life for just $1,000."

This clash between the two global billionaires is not the first. In May last year, Gates drew a line by saying in an interview, "I don't do space industry like Musk," while in the same month, Musk mocked Gates by saying he had shorted Tesla stocks worth hundreds of billions of won, putting him at risk of losses in the trillions of won range.