Investor's Corner
Tesla bear Jim Chanos isn’t shorting $TSLA anymore, he’s moved to a Put position
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) bear Jim Chanos is no longer shorting the automaker’s stock. Instead, Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company’s longtime skeptic has moved on to a “Put” position.
Chanos said in an interview with CNBC that he has abandoned the “Short” position he once held on Tesla stock, SeekingAlpha reported. Evidently, the losses came to be too much for the investor to handle, so he has moved on. Interestingly, Chanos commended Musk in December for a job well done, admitting defeat but not moving his belief that TSLA stock will eventually meet its demise.
Short and put positions are similar because they are fundamentally used in a bearish manner to predict the decline of a security or index. Short selling involves the sale of a security not owned by the seller but borrowed and then sold in the market to be brought back up at a later time. If the stock rises and doesn’t fall, it opens the potential for large-scale losses.
Put options give the buyer the right to sell an underlying asset at an agreed price in an option contract. The maximum loss is the premium paid within the option.
Still not a true believer in Tesla’s valuation or its label as the world’s most valuable automaker, Chanos recognized that EPS estimates for the automaker in January 2019 for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years were higher than what they are today, even though the stock was trading at only $50 per share split-adjusted.
That kind of tells you a little bit about what’s happened in the marketplace in that valuations have just gone parabolic for basically a company that’s still, in the eyes of analysts, earning at or below where they thought it would be earning two years ago. That’s kind of incredible,” he said.
But since January 2019, Tesla has grown significantly. The company only had one production facility in operation at the time, and Giga Berlin wouldn’t be announced until November of the same year. Tesla was only building three vehicles, and only one of them, the Model 3, was a mass-market car geared toward affordable price points that would open the doors for a wide-range EV adoption across the world. Tesla had already announced Giga Shanghai by this point, but the project was far from complete and wouldn’t start delivering vehicles until January 2020.
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January 2019 also saw the company’s Q4 2018 Earnings Call and the release of delivery and production figures for the electric automaker. In the final quarter of 2018, Tesla manufactured 86,555 cars, 61,394 of them were the Model 3. For the year, the company delivered 245,240 cars in total. It was Tesla’s third profitable quarter all-time at that point.
In comparison, Tesla more than doubled that output in 2020. It produced over 509,000 vehicles in 2020 alone, with 98% of them being delivered, leaving little room for inventory or “falling demand” arguments. Tesla managed to deliver 180,570 cars in Q4 2020 alone, well over 50% of the 2018 full-year delivery figures.
Additionally, Tesla short-sellers, bears, and skeptics alike rarely consider that the company is more than an automaker. With a line of sustainable energy products at competitive prices, Tesla has an energy sector that has cause for major disruption moving forward. Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya says that Tesla will “double and triple again” after its energy business takes off, which could spell even worse news for Chanos and other short-sellers moving forward.
Disclaimer: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
Investor's Corner
Ron Baron states Tesla and SpaceX are lifetime investments
Baron, one of Tesla’s longest-standing bulls, reiterated that his personal stake in the company remains fully intact even as volatility pressures the broader market.
Billionaire investor Ron Baron says he isn’t touching a single share of his personal Tesla holdings despite the recent selloff in the tech sector. Baron, one of Tesla’s longest-standing bulls, reiterated that his personal stake in the company remains fully intact even as volatility pressures the broader market.
Baron doubles down on Tesla
Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Baron stated that he is largely unfazed by the market downturn, describing his approach during the selloff as simply “looking” for opportunities. He emphasized that Tesla remains the centerpiece of his long-term strategy, recalling that although Baron Funds once sold 30% of its Tesla position due to client pressure, he personally refused to trim any of his personal holdings.
“We sold 30% for clients. I did not sell personally a single share,” he said. Baron’s exposure highlighted this stance, stating that roughly 40% of his personal net worth is invested in Tesla alone. The legendary investor stated that he has already made about $8 billion from Tesla from an investment of $400 million when he started, and believes that figure could rise fivefold over the next decade as the company scales its technology, manufacturing, and autonomy roadmap.
A lifelong investment
Baron’s commitment extends beyond Tesla. He stated that he also holds about 25% of his personal wealth in SpaceX and another 35% in Baron mutual funds, creating a highly concentrated portfolio built around Elon Musk–led companies. During the interview, Baron revisited a decades-old promise he made to his fund’s board when he sought approval to invest in publicly traded companies.
“I told the board, ‘If you let me invest a certain amount of money, then I will promise that I won’t sell any of my stock. I will be the last person out of the stock,’” he said. “I will not sell a single share of my shares until my clients sold 100% of their shares. … And I don’t expect to sell in my lifetime Tesla or SpaceX.”
Watch Ron Baron’s CNBC interview below.
@teslarati :rotating_light: This is why you need to use off-peak rates at Tesla Superchargers! #tesla #evcharging #fyp ♬ Blue Moon – Muspace Lofi
Elon Musk
‘You chose ambition’: Tesla Chair hails shareholders for backing Elon Musk’s vision
Denholm stated that the vote highlighted TSLA investors’ continued confidence in both Musk’s leadership and Tesla’s vision for an autonomous, AI-driven future.
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm has issued a letter to shareholders celebrating what she described as “overwhelming support” at this year’s Annual Meeting, framing the approval of Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar pay plan as a defining moment in Tesla’s mission.
Denholm stated that the vote highlighted TSLA investors’ continued confidence in both Musk’s leadership and Tesla’s vision for an autonomous, AI-driven future.
Denholm hails shareholder confidence
In her letter, which was posted by the electric vehicle maker on X through Tesla’s official handle, Denholm thanked investors for backing Proposals One, Three, and Four, items she said reaffirm Tesla’s “Master Plan Part IV” and its broader mission to accelerate sustainable prosperity. She characterized the shareholder vote as “a vote of confidence in our visionary leader, Elon,” crediting Musk with transforming Tesla into one of the most valuable companies in history.
“In a year when many tried to sow doubt and negativity, you chose a better future,” Denholm wrote. “You chose ambition. You chose to see what is possible. You chose to back the people who have been in the room since the earliest days, fighting for the mission that first brought us all together—a better world for humanity,” she wrote in her letter.
Her comments framed Musk’s pay package approval not only as a governance milestone but as a symbolic endorsement of Tesla’s long-term trajectory across autonomy, AI, and energy innovation.
“A whole new book” of innovation
Denholm highlighted Tesla’s push toward autonomy as the company’s next major growth phase, citing the Robotaxi program and Optimus humanoid robot as examples of bringing artificial intelligence “into the physical world.” She described this period as potentially “the largest value-creation event in Tesla’s history, and quite possibly in the history of humanity.”
The letter reaffirmed the board’s commitment to direct engagement with shareholders through Tesla’s online platform and live events. Denholm emphasized that feedback from investors “informs our strategy and strengthens us” as Tesla prepares for new technology rollouts and expanded AI capabilities.
“You, our shareholders, have given us the mandate and the runway to execute. We are humbled, and rest assured that we do not take that responsibility lightly… Thank you for believing in Tesla. Thank you for standing with us. We look forward to years of bold leadership and pioneering innovation, fueled by our commitment to creating a better future for all,” she wrote.
Elon Musk
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey endorses Elon Musk Tesla pay package
Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.
Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has publicly backed Elon Musk’s leadership ahead of Tesla’s pivotal shareholder vote, which is expected to be decided later today at the company’s 2025 annual meeting.
Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.
Dorsey’s public nod framed as an engineering defense of Musk
In a post on X, Dorsey weighed in on Tesla’s post about being in a “critical inflection point.” As per the Twitter-co-founder, the vote on Musk’s 2025 performance award is not about compensation. Instead, it’s about ensuring the path for the company’s engineering in the coming years.
“This is not about compensation. it’s about ensuring a principled (and exciting!) engineering approach to the company’s future,” Dorsey wrote on his post, later stating that users of Cash app with TSLA shares would be able to vote for the CEO’s proposed 2025 performance award.
Elon Musk appreciated Dorsey’s endorsement, responding to the Twitter co-founder’s post with a heart emoji. Musk has been pretty thankful for the support for is fellow tech executives, also thanking Michael Dell recently, who also advocated for its proposed 2025 performance award.
Musk’s support
While Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award has received opposition from proxy advisors such as Glass Lewis and ISS, it has received quite a lot of support from longtime bulls such as ARK Invest, and, more recently, Schwab Asset Management following calls from TSLA retail shareholders.
“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value. We apply our own internal guidelines and do not rely on recommendations from Glass Lewis or ISS. In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved,” Charles Schwab told Teslarati.
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