Long-time Tesla skeptic Michael Burry, who is known as “The Big Short,” has extended his short position to Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest Innovation ETF. The fund holds over $112 billion in investments, with Tesla stock making up 10.43% of the fund.
Burry is a longtime investor who previously predicted the 2007 housing crisis collapse. Burry placed bets of over $5 billion on the real estate market in 2007, resulting in billions of dollars of gains after the housing market eventually collapsed.
Since his legendary short position over 12 years ago, Burry has been recently notable for his short positions against Tesla, the electric car company run by CEO Elon Musk. In January, Burry stated that Tesla stock would eventually crumble, stating that Tesla investors should “enjoy it while it lasts.”
Burry then placed a massive 800,000 put option contracts in Q1 against Tesla stock worth $534.4 million. Puts provide investors with gains when underlying securities drop in price. On Monday, Burry’s Scion Asset Management firm placed more puts on Tesla, bringing the total up to 1.1 million. The puts are valued at around $731 million.
Now, Burry is moving his short position to a longtime Tesla bull in ARK Invest, the firm that has remained heavily supportive of Tesla and Elon Musk’s other ventures, including Neuralink. Known for accurate predictions of Tesla’s stock, Wood and ARK gained notoriety several years ago when they predicted that its stock would surge to $800 in 2018. This was impressive as, at the time, Tesla was battling profitability issues and ramping the Model 3, a process that nearly took Tesla bankrupt.
Wood was ultimately proven right last year during Tesla’s monumental 2020 stock surge, which sent the automaker’s stock up over 700% in a year that was extremely tough for many companies. However, after reaching the $800 split-adjusted price that Wood predicted, ARK’s investment narration became more mainstream. Tesla supporters have listened to Wood’s investment strategies due to the outlining success that the firm predicted.
However, Burry is not one of those listeners. After comparing ARK to the Manhattan Fund, he said, “If you know your history, there is a pattern here that can help you. If you don’t you’re doomed to repeat it.” The tweets are now deleted. Burry placed 235,500 put options against ARK’s Innovation ETF fund, which was a top-performing ETC in 2020 after gaining 149% in value.
At the time of writing, Tesla shares were down 3.66%.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) surged over 7 percent on Wednesday, canceling out some of the losses it has felt this week.
It has been a less-than-ideal start for Tesla in 2025, as the company has wiped out all of its gains felt from the victorious election campaign of President Donald Trump. The stock is down 34 percent so far this year.
The losses have mostly been felt due to reports of decreased demand due to pushback against CEO Elon Musk and his support of President Trump, as well as investor concern over the CEO’s personal use of time between the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Tesla itself.
In a note this week from Wedbush, analyst Dan Ives wrote:
“Musk needs to step up as Tesla CEO at this critical juncture. In a nutshell, the word ‘balance’ has been missing with Elon Musk and his ability to run Tesla as CEO….while instead focusing all of his energy and time driving his DOGE initiative within the Trump Administration. Since Trump’s White House 2nd term kicked off in January, we have seen Musk and Trump connected at the hip with Musk essentially living at the White House and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. There has been little to no sign of Musk at any Tesla factory or manufacturing facility the last two months and perception has become reality for Tesla shares. Trump getting elected President was a huge moment for Musk and Tesla in our view as this will create the fast track for an autonomous federal roadmap…however the DOGE efforts have now intertwined Tesla into this brewing political firestorm.”
Wednesday’s slight bump for Tesla shares is likely related to the support the company received from President Trump yesterday, who purchased a Model S sedan at the White House and pledged to pay for it with a check.
President Donald Trump buys a Tesla at the White House – Here’s which model he chose
The move was one that signaled a buying spree from high-profile Republicans, including Sean Hannity, among others, who announced their support for Musk and Tesla:
As promised yesterday, I Just ordered my new self driving Tesla! Over 1000HP, 0-60 in 2.0 seconds!
Details on how to win the Tesla of your Choice soon on https://t.co/9hkyEX1UVi! pic.twitter.com/PSCCtUsXK2
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) March 11, 2025
Tesla shares closed at $248.09 on Wednesday, up 7.59%.
Tesla bull ARK Invest loaded up on over $20 million worth of the automaker’s shares on Monday after the company saw its largest slide on the market since late 2020.
Shares dropped over 15 percent on Monday, mostly due to pushback on the stock as CEO Elon Musk heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). His involvement with the U.S. government directly has sent some investors into a predicament over Musk’s dedication to Tesla.
There are also concerns regarding Q1 deliveries, which will be a big indication of where the year could be headed for Tesla.
The Monday slide was the biggest since late 2020 when shares dropped over 21 percent.
However, the slide presents a massive buying opportunity for investors, especially those who operate ETFs, like ARK. Long term, ARK believes Tesla shares (NASDAQ: TSLA) will be exponentially more expensive, especially leaning on the thesis that Robotaxi and AI/Optimus will translate to major growth in yet another sector for the company.
ARK bolstered its position on $TSLA in its ARKK Innovation ETF with a purchase of 68,164 shares. Tesla is the largest holding in ARKK with over $531 million in value. Tesla makes up exactly 10 percent of the ARKK ETF.
It also bought another 11,154 shares in its ARKQ Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF.
It’s no secret Tesla shares have taken a substantial hit in 2025, especially as the company’s price on Wall Street exploded following President Trump’s successful election campaign last year.
So far in 2025, Tesla shares are down over 38 percent. They are up nearly 5 percent as of 2:30 p.m. on the East Coast. Even bullish analysts are hoping some focus returns to Tesla on Musk’s part.
Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a note last night following the broad sell off:
“This is a gut check moment for the Tesla bulls (including ourselves) after this massive sell-off in Tesla shares with fears mounting/accelerating. The bears own the Tesla narrative in the near-term as lackluster sales numbers from Europe, China, and the US in January/February along with Musk protests/brand worries have created many concerns.”
He continued:
“While the DOGE/Trump Musk iron clad partnership has created major brand worries for Tesla…..we estimate less than 5% of Tesla sales globally are at risk from these issues despite the global draconian narrative for Musk. Importantly, we expect Musk will better balance his time between DOGE and Tesla/SpaceX over the course of 2025 and some of these distraction issues will fade.”
A recent 13-F filing from legendary investor and billionaire Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates has revealed that the hedge fund has added over $62 million worth of Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) to its portfolio.
Elon Musk has praised the billionaire’s investment in a post on X.
Bridgewater’s TSLA stake:
- As per Bridgewater’s 13-F filing, it currently holds 153,589 shares of TSLA, which costs $62,025,382.
- The firm added the TSLA shares in the fourth quarter.
- Tesla shares gained momentum after its Q3 2024 earnings call, and it only gained more strength after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump.
- At the end of 2024, Tesla shares were up 62%, as noted in a MarketWatch report.
- Tesla stock is still up 88% over 12 months despite a steep drop over the past month.
Smart move
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 14, 2025
A vote of confidence:
- Bridgewater Associates is one of the largest hedge funds in the world, so the firm’s stake in TSLA could be interpreted as a vote of confidence in the electric vehicle maker.
- Elon Musk has praised the firm’s investment. In a post on X, Musk noted that Bridgewater’s investment was a “smart move.”
- Elon Musk has been quite consistent on his idea that Tesla could eventually become the world’s most valuable company. He emphasized this point during the Q4 2024 earnings call.
- “I see a path. I’m not saying it’s an easy path but I see a path of Tesla being the most valuable company in the world by far. Not even close. There is a path where Tesla is worth more than the next top five companies combined,” Musk said.
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