Warren Buffett may not be the 'kindly grandfather' figure he presents to the public, Elon Musk says
- Warren Buffett has cultivated a public persona that might not match reality, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told The New York Times.
- The billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO "has managed to create a great image for himself as a kindly grandfather, which is maybe overstating the case," Musk said.
- Musk said earlier this year that he wasn't "the biggest fan" of Buffett and the Berkshire boss had "kind of a boring job."
- Buffett is less divisive than other famous billionaires, perhaps because of his simpler lifestyle, philanthropic efforts, and largely scandal-free career.
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While Warren Buffett paints himself as a benevolent elder, he might not fully deserve his glowing reputation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told The New York Times in an interview published on Saturday.
"He has managed to create a great image for himself as a kindly grandfather, which is maybe overstating the case," Musk said when asked whether he thought the famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO was "overrated."
Buffett, 89, ranks among the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world, but he is far less polarizing than Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, or even Musk.
The Berkshire chief's surprisingly simple lifestyle, his love of soda and candy, his long and largely scandal-free career, and his immense philanthropic efforts have won him legions of fans and positive media coverage.
He is also known for educating and entertaining the investment community with his yearly letters and hosting an annual meeting in Omaha that attracts tens of thousands of enthusiastic shareholders.
However, Buffett is also a ruthless businessman. For example, he lent money to struggling companies such as Goldman Sachs, General Electric, and Harley-Davidson during the financial crisis "at interest rates that in some instances bordered on usurious," Alice Schroeder wrote in "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life."
Musk has criticized Buffett before. The Tesla chief said on Joe Rogan's podcast in May that he wasn't "the biggest fan" and that allocating capital among Berkshire's various businesses was "kind of a boring job."
The tech executive, who briefly overtook Buffett on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index this month, also in May 2018 dismissed Buffett's idea of economic moats as "lame." Buffett responded: "I don't think he'd want to take us on in candy."
However, Musk has also quoted Buffett in the past, suggesting there's still a chance he could follow the "Big Short" author Michael Lewis and change his mind about Buffett.