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Tesla SVP Tom Zhu sold over 82% of his shares between 2023-2024,. CEO Elon Musk warned short sellers of being “obliterated” with full autonomy.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again taken aim at short sellers, reviving memories of his past clashes with high-profile investors such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Tesla Senior Vice President Xiaotong “Tom” Zhu has offloaded more than 82% of his Tesla shares since 2023, according to regulatory filings. The stock sales, carried out between 2023 and 2024, were executed at prices ranging from $174 to $323 per share. Zhu’s large divestment has fueled speculation over insider sentiment at a time when CEO Elon Musk is ramping up his rhetoric against short sellers.
Responding to a post on X (formerly Twitter) that listed Tesla’s major short positions, Musk warned that those betting against the EV maker would be “obliterated” once the company achieves full-scale autonomy. “If they don’t exit their short position before Tesla reaches autonomy at scale, they will be obliterated,” he wrote.
Short selling is a trading strategy where an investor borrows shares from a broker and sells them at the current market price, expecting the price to fall. Later, the investor buys back the shares at a lower price and returns them to the broker. The difference between the selling price and the repurchase price is the profit.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again taken aim at short sellers, reviving memories of his past clashes with high-profile investors such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Bill Gates had been reported to have taken a short position against Tesla stock in 2022, meaning he bet on the stock price declining. This information primarily stems from Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography of Elon Musk and subsequent discussions on X and various news outlets.
Gates reportedly admitted to Musk in 2022 that he was shorting Tesla stock, a revelation that fueled a public feud between the two billionaires. Musk criticized Gates, arguing that shorting Tesla, a company focused on sustainable energy, contradicted Gates’ public stance on environmental issues. Gates confirmed the short position during a meeting at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, where he apologized to Musk, though tensions remained.
In a post on X last year, Musk warned, “If Tesla does become the world’s most valuable company by far, that short position will bankrupt even Bill Gates.”
A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al…Read More
A team of writers and reporters decodes vast terms of personal finance and making money matters simpler for you. From latest initial public offerings (IPOs) in the market to best investment options, we cover al… Read More
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