Elon Musk – the head of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), SpaceX (SPACE) and other companies – and JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon are making peace after years of conflict, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The chilly relationship between the two business titans thawed significantly in March, when Musk attended a technology conference hosted by JPMorgan. Musk and Dimon appeared on stage together, and afterward appeared to be more amenable toward each other, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the relationship.
The feud started in 2016 when Musk was angered that JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, refused to underwrite leases for Tesla’s (TSLA) electric vehicles. Valuating car batteries was a sticking point.
The rift escalated into the public sphere in 2021, when JPMorgan sued Tesla (TSLA) and Musk over $162 million the bank said it was owed for a trade arranged in 2014. Tesla (TSLA) countersued, claiming that J.P. Morgan was angry partly because Musk’s companies took their business to rival banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
The lawsuits are ongoing, and it’s not certain that a friendlier relationship between Musk and Dimon will help to resolve the legal dispute, the Journal reported.