In 2022, Gates went to see Elon Musk, hoping to persuade him to give away more money – like he did with Microsoft.

The meeting went awry, according to Walter Isaacson’s new biography, “Elon Musk,” on sale Tuesday. This book reveals some details about the extraordinary world of America’s billionaires, including the unusual relationship between Musk and Gates. Gates had been the wealthiest man in the world before he began steadily giving it away in his philanthropic efforts, while Musk is the current richest man on the planet.

Gates texted Musk in 2022, “Hey, I’d love to speak with you about philanthropy and climate,” Isaacson wrote. At the time, Musk had started a $5.7 billion charitable fund – mainly for tax reasons, according to Isaacson – and Gates wanted to influence his approach to philanthropy.

As Isaacson wrote, Musk told Gates to call him directly because he did not use assistants or schedulers. The 10-million-square-foot Tesla Gigafactory was visited by Gates in Austin, Texas, on March 9, 2022.

A text message from Gates read, “Just landed.”.

Musk replied, “Cool.”.

Isaacson interviewed both men and other sources to detail their conversation, noting that Gates challenged whether batteries could power large semi trucks and whether solar energy could help with climate change. When Gates saw Musk’s “overboard” Mars plans, he found it “bizarre thinking” to think humans could survive a nuclear war by moving to Mars.