Did investor Warren Buffett pay $1 trillion in cash to acquire Elon Musk's Tesla Motors company? No, that's not true: The story originated as an April Fools joke and went viral online. No actual news websites reported on any such investment or acquisition.
The story appeared as an article (archived here) on GoBankingRates on April 1, 2025 titled "Warren Buffett Acquires Elon Musk's Tesla for $1 Trillion in Cash" and it opened:
Legendary investor Warren Buffett has announced that Berkshire Hathaway will acquire Tesla for a staggering $1 trillion in cash. The 94-year-old "Oracle of Omaha," long known for his disinterest in tech stocks and electric vehicles, reportedly contacted Elon Musk directly to make the unprecedented offer.
"While I've publicly maintained that I don't understand tech companies, I've secretly been driving a Cybertruck around my Nebraska neighborhood at night," Buffett reportedly told investors on an early morning conference call on Tuesday, April 1.
However the article had a disclaimer at the bottom that said:
APRIL FOOLS! This article is entirely satirical and was published on April 1, 2025. Warren Buffett has not acquired Tesla, and all quotes and information in this piece are fictional.
A Google News search for recent news stories mentioning "Warren Buffet", "Elon Musk" and "Tesla" only brought up fact checks (archived here) pointing out the story was not real.
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You can read about other April Fools jokes spotted by Lead Stories here.
