Elon Musk and the Neuralink Future. Photo by Steve Jurvetson (CC BY 2.0)

Elon Musk “is very talented” and “likes to take on impossible jobs,” says Charlie Munger. “Elon is a brilliant,” he “dreams about things, and his dreams have got a foundation,” adds Warren Buffett.

At the 2023 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Ohama, Neb., Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger were asked about their previous comments about Elon Musk. One viewer asked if they still think the CEO of Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX is overestimating himself. While the billionaire investors have said they still hold their opinion, they noted that he is talented and brilliant.

Both acknowledged that Musk loves to take on difficult jobs and do it, emphasizing that they would not want to be in his place. Buffett said Musk has a drive to solve impossible problems, and acknowledged that he does, from time to time. For example, his SpaceX was able to achieve that rockets became reusable, which was previously considered impossible. This dramatically reduced the cost of launches, opening up more opportunities for humanity. Investors also noted that they do not want to compete with Musk.

Here is an edited transcript of their remarks (via Wealthgang):

Charlie Munger: Well, yes, I think, Elon Musk overestimates himself, but he is very talented. So he’s overestimating somebody who doesn’t need to overestimate to be very talented.

Warren Buffett: There’s a Bill Maher program about a week old, maybe two weeks old, but, he interviews Elon and Elon does a terrific job going toe to toe with Bill Maher. It’s worth watching. And Elon is a brilliant, brilliant guy and I would say that he might score over 170. He dreams about things, and his dreams have got a foundation.

Charlie Munger: He would not have achieved what he has in life if he hadn’t tried for unreasonably extreme objectives. He likes taking on the impossible job and doing it. We’re different. Warren and I are looking for an easy job that we can identify.

Warren Buffett: Yeah, if we can do it playing tic-tac-toe, we’ll do it.

Charlie Munger: We have a wholly different way of going about it.

Warren Buffet: A different whole way. But we don’t want to compete with Elon in a lot of things.

Charlie Munger: We don’t want that much failure.

Warren Buffett: It takes over your life in a way that it just doesn’t fit us. But there are going to be, well there have been important things done by Elon already and it requires – fanaticism isn’t the word…

Charlie Munger: Yeah, it is the word.

Warren Buffett: Well, it isn’t quite the word, but it’s a dedication to solving the impossible, and every now and then he’ll do it. But it would be torturous to me and Charlie. And I like the way I’m living. I wouldn’t enjoy being in his shoes, but he wouldn’t enjoy being in my shoes either. Watch the Bill Maher interview.

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