Elon Musk’s dream of receiving investment money from Warren Buffett will never happen when criticized for being costly and risky.
Recently, Berkshire Hathaway’s sale of about 13% of its shares in Apple has attracted the attention of many investors, including billionaire Elon Musk.
Responding on Twitter-X about this incident, Elon Musk said Warren Buffett should have sold all $135 billion in Apple shares to invest in Tesla.
“He should buy Tesla shares. That is the bright path,” Elon Musk wrote.
However, according to Business Insider (BI), Elon Musk’s dream of receiving investment from Warren Buffett will probably never happen.
Previously, when Buffett’s right-hand man, Charlie Munger, was still alive, both of them had negative comments about the electric vehicle industry.
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
Please be reminded that Berkshire Hathaway has bought 10% of the shares of BYD, China’s largest electric vehicle company, so it is nothing new to this industry.
However, despite success with BYD, both Buffett and Munger commented during the 2023 shareholders’ meeting that the electric vehicle industry is too risky.
“Charlie and I have long felt that the auto industry is too difficult. This is a market with too many competitors globally and they will never give up competition. Although there is always a winner in every space. certain period of time but it will not help you win forever,” Buffett said.
“I think I know where Apple will go in the next 5-10 years…but I don’t know what a car company will be in the next 5-10 years,” Buffett added.
In the same opinion, Buffett’s deceased right-hand man Charlie Munger also said that no matter how explosively the electric vehicle industry grows, they still cost too much capital while the risks are huge.
“This industry costs too much but the risks are too high. I don’t like this type of investment that costs money but has such great risks,” Mr. Munger said.
During the recent 2024 annual shareholder meeting, Buffett himself also made indirect comments about the electric vehicle industry when Berkshire invested in auto insurance.
“If accidents can be reduced by 50%, this is great for society,” Buffett said.
So if Elon Musk’s self-driving car technology can reduce accidents by 50%, it is likely that Buffett’s opinion on this industry will also change. However, some experts doubt this possibility as the US Department of Justice is still investigating Tesla because its self-driving technology has been linked to a series of accidents.
“Tesla has been toying with the idea of eliminating auto insurance with self-driving technology, but so far they haven’t been able to succeed. Time will tell the final answer, but I think self-driving technology will only transfers costs from the driver to the technology supplier in accidents,” said Berkshire insurance director Ajit Jain, implying that Tesla will be responsible when cars use autonomous technology. Their driving caused an accident.
