Isaacson recounts what happened when the two people who had each held the “world’s richest man” title met to talk philanthropy.
Gates argued that batteries would never be able to power large semitrucks and that solar energy would not be a major part of solving the climate problem."I showed him the numbers," Gates said."It's an area where I clearly knew something that he didn't." He also gave Musk a hard time about Mars."I'm not a Mars person," Gates later told me."He's overboard on Mars. I let him explain his Mars thinking to me, which is kind of bizarre thinking.
"Hey, I'm going to show you five projects of a hundred million each," Gates responded. He listed money for refugees, American schools, an AIDS cure, eradicating some mosquito types through gene drives, and genetically modified seeds that will resist the effects of climate change. Gates is very diligent about philanthropy, and he promised to write for Musk a"super-long description of the ideas.
That way of thinking was alien to Musk. He believed in the mission of moving the world to electric vehicles, and he put all of his available money toward that goal, even when it did not seem like a safe investment."How can someone say they are passionate about fighting climate change and then do something that reduced the overall investment in the company doing the most?" he asked me a few days after Gates' visit."It's pure hypocrisy.
Gates was sitting in the dining room of the Four Seasons hotel in Washington, D.C., with his son Rory, who was just starting graduate school. He laughed, showed Rory the text, and asked for his advice on how to answer.Gates tried that."Sorry to say I haven't closed it out," he texted back."I would like to discuss philanthropy possibilities."
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