The 67-year-old co-founder of Microsoft was asked by the BBC if he would persuade Musk to join his “club of mega-philanthropists.” The phrase “philanthropists to contribute the bulk of their money to charity organizations, either during their lifetimes or in their wills” refers to The Giving Pledge, a movement started by Gates, his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, and billionaire businessman Warren Buffett.

Gates predicted that Musk “would one day be a terrific philanthropist,” adding that “companies like Tesla are having a beneficial impact even without being a kind of charity.”

When questioned by BBC reporter Amol Rajan if going to Mars would be a good use of money, Gates responded, “Not in my perspective.”

According to Gates, there are “absolutely” more urgent concerns on Earth that require attention.

“It’s actually extremely costly to get to Mars,” said Gates.

Gates advised Musk to concentrate his significant resources on vaccinations rather than space flight.

“For a thousand dollars, you can purchase measles vaccines and save lives,” according to Bill Gates. “Simply put, it grounds you. Do not visit Mars.”

With a net worth of $184 billion, Musk is the second-richest person in the world. He has not yet given a public response to Gates’ remarks.

Since a first encounter was allegedly planned years ago, Musk and Gates have not had the best of connections.

Several years ago, according to alleged text communications between the billionaires, Gates wanted to meet Musk to talk about “philanthropy prospects.” Musk abruptly allegedly called off the meeting after learning that Gates was betting against Tesla’s shares. Musk gave the impression that the text messages that were revealed last year were real.

In April of last year, Musk made fun of Gates by likening the co-founder of Microsoft to a pregnant man emoji.

Gates was also questioned about his ties to COVID-19 pandemic conspiracy ideas during the most recent BBC interview.

Gates answered, “I didn’t anticipate that. Tens of millions of communications claiming that I purposefully started the epidemic or that I was following individuals circulated during it. It’s true that I work in the vaccine industry, but I do it to save lives.”