Buffett says Tesla can’t sell insurance, Musk hits back
San Francisco: Tesla Founder and CEO Elon Musk could not hold his displeasure over Warren Buffett’s remarks that selling insurance is not Tesla’s cup of tea, leading to a couple of tweets related to the billionaire investor.
The Berkshire Founder and CEO Buffett, during the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting last week, said insurance is not an easy business.
“The success of the auto companies getting into the insurance business is probably as likely as the success of the insurance companies getting into the auto business,” he told shareholders.
In an earnings call with analysts in April, Musk revealed his plans to launch an insurance product later in May.
“I’d bet against any company in the auto business” getting into insurance, CNBC quoted Buffett as saying.
This led Musk to issue a series of tweets on Sunday.
The Tesla CEO first tweeted a link, asking his followers to order Tesla Model 3, which is cheaper than a Honda Accord.
He then sent a playful tweet, claiming that Tesla is “also 1,000 more fun” than a Honda Accord.
The third tweet said: “That’s a direct quote from Warren Buffett.”
Buffett, 88, has lately been critical of Musk.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance in April, he said that Musk who is known for creating controversies via tweets has “room for improvement”.
“I think he has room for improvement, and he would say the same thing.
“It’s just, some people have a talent for interesting quotes and others have a little bit more of a blocker up there that says ‘this could get me into problems’,” Buffett was quoted as saying.
“I just don’t see the necessity to communicate (on Twitter),” he said.
Buffett, however, added that Musk is “a remarkable guy”.
The Berkshire Founder and CEO announced last week that his firm bought its first Amazon shares.
The stake in Amazon is a first for the investment conglomerate. Buffett has repeatedly praised Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos in the past.
