A mining billionaire who called Elon Musk a 'muppet' hints the Tesla chief is anti-hydrogen because he's bet big on batteries

• A mining billionaire who called Elon Musk a "muppet" revisited their dispute this week.

• Andrew Forrest hinted Musk is anti-hydrogen as the Tesla chief has bet big on electric batteries.

• Both are heavily invested in batteries, but Forrest said EVs won't solve climate change.

An Australian mining billionaire called Elon Musk a "muppet" earlier this year for dismissing hydrogen as a clean fuel. This week he suggested the Tesla chief is anti-hydrogen because he's bet on electric batteries.

Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, the CEO of Fortescue Metals, was asked by a shareholder at the company's annual meeting on Tuesday about the times he "crossed swords" with the Tesla chief.

"You've touched a really, really raw nerve here," Forrest replied. Fortescue is a major designer of batteries and spends heavily on them, but he doesn't think they're a solution to climate change.

"The miracle marriage is, as you point out, hydrogen with the battery or fuel cell," he continued.

Forrest emphasized that he wasn't just touting hydrogen over electric batteries for his company's benefit, and hinted Musk might be doing the opposite for Tesla's sake.

"Like Musk, I'm heavily invested in batteries," he said. "It's just that, unlike Musk, it's not my own investment."