Musk v Munger! 🥊

Billionaire battles don’t come much bigger than Elon Musk vs Charlie Munger. ⚡

Musk is the technoking edge-lord who love loves crypto, memes and sexist jokes. Munger, on the other hand, is the Berkshire Hathaway (BERK.A, BRK.B) vice chair and value investing old-timer who hates pretty much all those things. He especially hates crypto, which last week he called ‘crypto crappo’ while speaking at the annual shareholder meeting of Daily Journal Corp (DJCO). 💩

Munger might be about as old as a 150kg prehistoric Aotearoa penguin, but he has no problem squaring up against Musk when it comes to which electric vehicle (EV) maker he’d back for Berkshire’s portfolio. 🐧 While Tesla (TSLA) dominated sales of EVs in the US in 2022, making up 65% of all EVs sold, Munger says when it comes to China’s BYD (Build Your Dreams), he reckons they’re so far ahead of Tesla ‘it’s almost ridiculous’. 

In fact, BYD is leaving most other EV makers in their dust. 🚗💨 The company sold 1.86 million EVs in China last year, compared to the 400,000 sold by very-much-second-place Tesla. Munger also noted that while BYD was able to increase prices in China last year, Tesla reduced prices, twice. Wah wah. 🎺 

Munger’s comments were enough to fire up investing heavy-weight Cathie Wood. Wood came out swinging, saying Munger just doesn’t get it when it comes to Tesla, which she thinks could be worth a whopping US$1,500 per share. 

There’s been no such love for electric truck maker Rivian (RIVN), however. After listing to boisterous fanfare in 2021, the company’s share price has fizzled as they burn through the cash. 💸 Big investor Ford (F) has also been steadily selling down their 12% stake in Rivian as they focus on getting their own truck, the F150 Lightning, into the market. ⚡ Billionaire fisty-cuffs at dawn?

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