Warren Buffett vs Elon Musk: Billionaire Battle

Warren Buffett and Elon Musk are two of the wealthiest people in the world, but that’s where the similarities end. The pair couldn’t be more different in their approach to everything from building their companies to managing their personal reputations.

Musk is the brains behind Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, and a handful of other tech innovators, and he now owns the social media platform Twitter.

He is outspoken about his political views and doesn’t hesitate to post fiery responses when internet trolls get contentious.

Musk has been the richest man in the world at times, but he appears unphased by wealth-related attention. In public forums, his focus is always on the work – improving technology and building solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

Buffett, on the other hand, maintains a quiet dignity. He doesn’t engage with his detractors, and he tries protect his reputation as an honest, thoughtful businessman above all else. Buffett is generous with his insights into economic conditions, and he regularly shares his advice for responsible investing through lengthy letters to shareholders and occasional media appearances.

Musk is widely regarded as a somewhat erratic genius in the tech space. He frequently changes course without warning, which keeps his shareholders on their toes. Conversely, Buffett is known for maintaining a steady course regardless of market conditions. Each decision he makes is aligned with the core strategy he has refined over decades of investing.

Buffett might not be involved in building next-generation technology, but he is considered a genius nonetheless. His genius is in the world of business, where he has an uncanny ability to identify business challenges and opportunities, then predict which specific companies are most likely to succeed over time.

On the wealth front “Warren Buffett vs Elon Musk net worth”: who wins?

Is Elon Musk Richer Than Warren Buffett?

Elon Musk’s net worth currently stands at approximately $184 billion – a large drop since the time before his takeover of Twitter. As recently as November 2021, Elon Musk’s net worth was a whopping $340 billion.

Warren Buffett’s net worth is around $108 billion – a figure that has risen steadily over time. Though his fortune expands and contracts along with economic conditions, he doesn’t experience the dizzying heights and shocking losses of Elon Musk’s balance sheet.

While Buffett doesn’t make a practice of exchanging barbs with anyone, including Elon Musk, the two have some history of remarking on one another’s strategies. While Musk maintains the larger fortune, many observers are more comfortable with Buffett’s steady, reliable approach to building wealth.

Does Elon Musk Like Warren Buffett?

When two business titans clash, it’s natural to wonder whether their differences are purely philosophical or if there is personal animosity. In the case of Warren Buffett vs. Elon Musk, it’s hard to say. Musk regularly makes disparaging remarks about Buffett’s approach to investing, and he has made it clear that he does not envy Buffett’s calm navigation of the ups and downs of the stock market.

During a May 2018 earnings call, Musk remarked that “moats” aren’t nearly as critical to business success as the pace of innovation. That was a direct snub to Buffett, who coined the term “moats” when explaining how critical it is for companies to hold a sustainable competitive advantage if they are to realize long-term growth.

Buffett responded to Musk with a gentle reminder that there are companies with wide moats that have not been disrupted by new tech. For example, See’s Candies, which Berkshire Hathaway acquired in 1972. Buffett went on to say, “Elon may turn things upside down in some areas. I don’t think he would want to take us on in candy.”

It appeared to be a lighthearted remark, but Musk immediately followed up, stating he was “super super serious” about launching a candy company that would “be amazing,” theoretically to compete with Buffett’s.

At the end of 2021, the topic of Warren Buffett came up again when Elon Musk was interviewed by Time Magazine after being nominated as Person of the Year. Musk said, “I’m not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan, frankly. He sits there and reads all these annual reports, which are super boring.”

However, Musk tempered this negative remark by adding that he supports Buffett’s handling of his position as a market expert – and as one of the wealthiest people in the world. Musk said, “… he’s not engaged in insane, conspicuous consumption. So you have to say, ‘Sure, he’s got a high net worth, but he’s doing a useful job for the economy, and he’s very skilled at it and should probably keep doing it.'”

More recently, during Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call in October 2022, Musk drew a stark distinction between himself and Buffett when he was asked whether he might eventually put all of his companies under a parent like Berkshire Hathaway or Alphabet. Musk said, “I’m not an investor. I am an engineer and manufacturing person and a technologist… I actually work and design and develop products. We’re not going to have a portfolio of investments or whatever.”

That remark describes his differences with Buffett in a nutshell. Musk is proud of his accomplishments as an entrepreneur who creates and invents disruptive technology, and he has no interest in Buffett’s investment-focused activities.

Why Won’t Warren Buffett Buy Tesla?

While Warren Buffett has not participated in most of the conversations around Elon Musk’s work and Musk’s opinion of Buffett’s methods of building wealth, Buffett has made one notable decision that speaks volumes. Warren Buffett has not invested in Tesla, despite the fact that it is down by more than a third in the past year. Buffett is known for scooping up stocks when they can be had at bargain prices, but it appears that Buffett doesn’t consider Tesla stock a bargain at any price.

Those who have followed Buffett for some time have no trouble understanding why Tesla isn’t on his short list of stocks to buy.

The company simply doesn’t meet basic criteria on the Warren Buffett checklist. First, it doesn’t have a true moat. Yes, Tesla was one of the first to make deep inroads into the US electric vehicle market, but newcomers to the space are starting to catch up.

And those newcomers include some of the best-established automakers in the world – Ford and General Motors – who possess the infrastructure and know-how to corner the market once they have the product perfected.

Buffett doesn’t own Ford, but he does have a 3.6 percent stake in GM, and that’s not his only EV asset. Berkshire Hathaway now controls 12.9 percent of Chinese EV manufacturer BYD Co – a company Elon Musk once said would never be a legitimate competitor for Tesla. Now BYD is getting ready to become one of Tesla’s battery suppliers.

The second reason those who understand Warren Buffett’s investment strategy expect him to stay far away from Tesla stock is Elon Musk’s behavior. Buffett pays close attention to the management team of any company he is considering, and Musk’s reputation for erratic behavior, acting on whims, and mercurial decision-making diverges from Warren Buffett’s expectations for business leaders.

In the past, Buffett has described Elon Musk as a “remarkable guy,” but he said Musk has room for improvement as Tesla’s CEO. He also suggested that Musk might rethink some of his Twitter posts. Perhaps he was referring to a remark Musk made about taking Tesla private, which landed him in hot water with the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Maybe Buffett was unimpressed by Musk’s minute-by-minute Twitter account of a bowel movement. Regardless, Buffett is unwilling to risk his own reputation by tying it to Elon Musk and Tesla.

Though Musk has the larger fortune, Warren Buffett’s ability to maintain his growth trajectory over time is more appealing to most serious investors. Investing in Elon Musk’s projects can be exciting, but the lack of security isn’t right for those with serious financial goals.

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