When Warren Buffett Shared Why He Never Invested In Elon Musk's Tesla

Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Tesla. These are among the biggest companies in the world. But 93-year-old billionaire Warren Buffett has not yet invested in any of these. Surprised? Well, while the ¡®Oracle of Omaha¡¯ had admitted that not investing in Google, Amazon and Microsoft is a decision he regrets, the same is not the case with Elon Musk¡¯s Tesla.

When Warren Buffett Praised Elon Musk

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Earlier this year in May, 93-year-old billionaire Warren Buffett heaped praise on the world¡¯s richest person Elon Musk. As per a Fortune report, he had said that he admires Elon Musk for his ¡°dedication to solving the impossible.¡± Praising the Twitter CEO, Buffett had further said he and his long-time business partner and friend Charlie Munger are not seeking to compete with Musk in a lot of areas. Munger agreed, saying, ''We don't want that much failure.''

"There have been important things done by Elon already and it requires fanaticism ¡­ it's a dedication to solving the impossible and, every now and then, they'll do it. But it would be torturous for me and Charlie. I just like the way I'm living, and I wouldn't enjoy being in his shoes but he wouldn't enjoy being in my shoes either," Buffett had added.

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Why Warren Buffett Has Not Invested In Tesla

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While the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman believes EVs will bring big changes to the auto market, he doubts any carmaker will be able to hold a dominant position.

¡°You will see a change in the vehicles, but you won¡¯t see anybody that owns the market because they changed the vehicle,¡± Buffett had said this year at Berkshire Hathaway¡¯s annual conference. The investing legend and his partner, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, shared their thoughts on EVs and the auto industry in general during a Q&A session.

How Elon Musk Hinted Berkshire To Invest In Tesla

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Earlier this year in February, Elon Musk had certainly made it clear that he would like Berkshire Hathaway to invest in Tesla, and he noted the significant returns it would have seen had it done so. Musk had answered a Twitter user¡¯s question about what Berkshire Hathaway should invest in, writing, ¡°Starts with a T¡­¡±

Musk added, ¡°Munger could¡¯ve invested in Tesla at ~$200M valuation when I had lunch with him in late 2008.¡± Tesla¡¯s market cap is now about $530 billion.

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Also Read: When & Why Former Microsoft CEO Once Laughed At Apple's iPhone

What Charlie Munger Had Said About Investing In EVs?

The replies by Warren Buffett and Munger had given a glimpse into their reasoning for not investing in Tesla, Rivian, and other EV makers in the U.S. They had also noted while answering a question about their thoughts on Musk, that they were far more cautious than he: ¡°We¡¯re different,¡± 99-year-old Charlie Munger, who passed away last week, had said. ¡°Warren and I are looking for the easy job that we can identify.¡±

¡°The electric vehicle is coming big-time, and that¡¯s a very interesting development,¡± said Munger. But, he added, ¡°At the moment, it¡¯s imposing huge capital costs and huge risks¡ªand I don¡¯t like huge capital costs and huge risks.¡±

¡°Charlie and I for long have felt that the auto industry is just too tough,¡± Buffett said. ¡°It¡¯s just a business where you¡¯ve got a lot of worldwide competitors, they¡¯re not going to go away. And it looks like there are winners at any given time, but it doesn¡¯t get you a permanent place.¡±