Billionaires: Tech titans clash over US coronavirus lockdowns – The National

Billionaires: Tech titans clash over US coronavirus lockdowns – The National

In our latest fortnightly roundup, Tesla's Elon Musk calls measures anti-democratic while Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg expresses concerns about easing restrictions too quickly. Silicon Valley billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg offered differing views on movement restriction measures designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus on Wednesday, with Facebook's Zuckerberg endorsing the measures while Tesla's Musk condemned them as anti-democratic.. Mr Musk, 48, who has often made outspoken and even inflammatory comments on conference calls and Twitter, told analysts on Tesla's earnings call that it was "fascist" to say people cannot leave their homes.. Mr Zuckerberg in comments on Facebook's own earnings calls, expressed concerns about easing restrictions.. Even so, Tesla on Wednesday reported its third profitable quarter in a row.. Mr Musk has said the extension of the shelter-in-place order "will cause great harm, not just to Tesla, but to any companies".. "And while Tesla will weather the storm, there are many small companies that will not," he added.. Bill Gates's foundation will focus all of its resources on fighting the coronavirus, the Financial Times reported.. "You're going to have economies with greatly reduced activity levels for years," Mr Gates said.. The pandemic could cost the global economy "tens