Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates seem to have indulged in a verbal brawl yet again, according to a few text message screenshots that have surfaced on the internet. 

Shared by an account named ‘Whole Mars Catalog’ on Twitter, the screenshots consist of a conversation between the two billionaires. The account’s owner then tagged Musk and asked him to confirm if the screenshots are legitimate. 

While the source of the screenshots remained unclear initially, the color of the text boxes suggested that they were taken on Musk’s device. 

The first screenshot features a text sent by Gates, who asks Musk to confirm a date and time for a meeting. Musk then responds, “Great.” 

Another screenshot displays Gates stating that he has “just landed”, with Musk responding “cool.”

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After sending one-word responses, Musk sends a follow-up text that reads, “Do you still have a half billion dollar short position against Tesla?”

Gates then responds, “Sorry to say I haven’t closed it out,” adding that he “would like to discuss philanthropy possibilities.”

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“Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change,” Musk replied, according to the screenshots. 

A short position is when an investor sells a stock with the goal to buy it later when its price reduces, believing that the stock’s value will diminish at some point.

Clearing the air, Musk tweeted that the screenshots were authentic but he did not leak them, adding that they must have been leaked “through friends of friends.”

“I heard from multiple people at TED that Gates still had half billion short against Tesla, which is why I asked him, so it’s not exactly top secret,” Musk added.

After responding to the screenshots, Musk went on to upload a side-by-side image of Gates and an emoji of a man with a protruding belly and wrote: “in case u need to lose a b*ner fast.”