If Elon Musk ever writes a self-help book, chapter one might be titled "Insult First, Pitch Later." Because when it comes to Warren Buffett, Musk has made one thing abundantly clear: he's not a fan of the whole "sit around and read reports" lifestyle — but he would like Buffett to write a very big check to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).
It all started in 2020 when Musk dropped by "The Joe Rogan Experience" and casually roasted Buffett's day job. "To be totally frank, I'm not his biggest fan," Musk said. "He does a lot of capital allocation. He reads a lot of annual reports of companies and all the accounting — and it's pretty boring, really."
Musk didn't stop there. In the same breath, he threw shade at the entire financial and legal profession, saying, "We should have fewer people doing law and fewer people doing finance, and more people making stuff."
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Later that year, Musk doubled down in a New York Times interview with Maureen Dowd during a round of "Confirm or Deny." When prompted with, "Warren Buffett is overrated," Musk didn't give a straight answer. Instead, he laughed and said, "Hahaha. Um, I think he has managed to create a great image for himself as a kindly grandfather, which is maybe overstating the case."
Then came 2021, when Time named Musk its Person of the Year — and gave him another chance to repeat himself with more flair. "I'm not Warren Buffett's biggest fan, frankly," he said in the interview. "He sits there and reads all these annual reports, which are super boring." Musk added, "Does anybody want that job? I think most people do not. I don't want that job."
Still, even while dragging Buffett's job description, Musk couldn't deny the value Buffett brings to the table. "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.'"
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And just to make sure no one thought his criticism was new, Musk's Buffett commentary dates all the way back to Tesla's 2018 earnings call, when he mocked Buffett's investment philosophy around "moats" — the idea of protecting a company with a durable competitive edge. "First of all, I think moats are lame," Musk declared. "They're nice in a sort of quaint, vestigial way. But if your only defense against invading armies is a moat, you will not last long. What matters is the pace of innovation."
Buffett, of course, didn't take the bait. During the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK, BRK.B)) shareholder meeting, he responded with Buffett-esque calm and candy-coated sarcasm: "Certainly you should be working on improving your own moat and defending your own moat all the time. And Elon may turn things upside down in some areas. I don't think he'd want to take us on in candy."
But fast forward a few years, and Musk — despite all the digs — wanted Buffett to do what he does best: invest. "He should take a position in Tesla. It's an obvious move," Musk posted on X last year, replying to a user who suggested Berkshire Hathaway ditch its $135 billion Apple stake and go all-in on Tesla instead.
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Timing-wise, the comment landed just after Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting, where Buffett revealed the company had trimmed its Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) position by about 10%. For context, Buffett and the late Charlie Munger had long expressed skepticism toward the auto industry, calling it capital-intensive and brutally competitive. But they weren't completely closed off to EVs — Berkshire has held a stake in Chinese EV giant BYD since 2008.
Still, Musk seemed to carry a grudge — or at least a long memory. In a February 2022 X post, he revisited a meeting with Munger over a decade ago. "I was at a lunch with Munger in 2009 where he told the whole table all the ways Tesla would fail," Musk wrote. "Made me quite sad, but I told him I agreed with all those reasons and that we would probably die, but it was worth trying anyway."
So, to recap: Musk thinks Buffett's job is painfully boring, thinks Buffett's investment philosophy is outdated, isn't his "biggest fan" — but also really wants Buffett's backing. If nothing else, Musk has mastered the art of keeping his frenemies close… and maybe within investing range.
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