Bill Gates: 'We need more Elon Musks'

Bill Gates said the world needs more entrepreneurs like Elon Musk to take on climate change.

“I think what Elon’s done with Tesla is fantastic. It’s, you know, probably the biggest single contribution to showing us that electric cars are part of how we solve climate change,” Gates told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview that aired Thursday morning on “Squawk Box.” “We need a lot of Elon Musks, including... ones who work on these super hard categories,” he said, suggesting areas like steel and cement.

The billionaire philanthropist also pointed toward Musk’s carbon removal challenge, which was announced last month. Musk said on Twitter that he would donate $100 million toward a prize for the best technology that can capture carbon dioxide.

“Elon’s done a carbon capture prize, which is an amazing thing,” added Gates, who has a new book called “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.” It comes at a crucial time, as global carbon dioxide emissions have soared in the past century, leading to unprecedented global warming and climate change.

“I think he should be very proud of what he’s done,” Gates said.

Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide.


Connect with CNBC News Online

#CNBC
#CNBCTV

[markbolly]

Translation from Bill gates to English: "I shorted Tesla stock but Elon won and he's great"

[Jaybee]

"I don't talk about my after talking about some of his investments

[UserInterface]

Elon Musk laughing at this interview right now 😂😂

[brzegator]

Bill Gates: "I invested in Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat..."
Interviewer: "Did you short Tesla?"
Bill Gates: "I don't talk about my investments"
xD

[thearts]

Lol you don’t talk about your investments but you were just talking about your investments 🤔😅

[simona]

He definitely shorted Tesla at one point.

[richardk]

“We need more Elon Musk... so I can short more stocks.” Bill Gates.

[stevenkoza]

Please stop putting Shepard Smith at the end of all your videos

[carloalaimo]

We now know that Bill is a very bad liar 😂

[Luca]

That's definitely an "I was short Tesla... But not anymore. I only talk about my winning bets"

[Acumen]

Thats how you pass the "media training" course.

[PerErikKarlsson]

Have to say that was definitely an admission of having been short at one point.

[Random.Adventures.]

HE clearly shorted Tesla stock and lost big time and side stepped the question completely LOL

[MADMAX]

Sneaky lil Billie, trying to avoid answering the question like a politician

[baitedlol]

Bill gates: we need more Elon’s.
Also Bill: Shorted Tesla for years.

[barcannon]

Elon should send Bil Gates "Tesla short shorts"

[ChrisAke]

I don't talk about my investments. Ha. Elon to the literally

[bob___]

So, just to set the record straight, Bill Gates didn't deny that he's shorting Tesla stock

[wilsonbernard]

The rich stay rich by spending like the poor and investing without stopping then the poor stay poor by spending like the rich yet not investing like the rich.

[QuocDatPhung]

"We need more Elon Musks"

There are indeed more Elon Musks out there. The one you see on live TV is just one of his clones.