• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Exclusive

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

An hour in the Oval Office with President Trump Fortune Editor-in-Chief: Alyson Shontell sat down with President Trump in the Oval Office for an hour. Tariffs, Intel, AI, Boeing, Iran—and the question every CEO eventually has to answer: who's next?

Finance

Elon Musk Is Trolling the Investors Who Shorted Tesla

Lucinda Shen
By
Lucinda Shen
Lucinda Shen
Down Arrow Button Icon
Lucinda Shen
By
Lucinda Shen
Lucinda Shen
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 3, 2017, 3:01 PM ET

It’s uncommon for a CEO to talk about his or her own company’s stock. But serial entrepreneur Elon Musk had no qualms about taunting those who bet against his company.

During Monday trading, shares of his electric car company Tesla (TSLA) surged over 6% midday to an all-time high, giving the company a market capitalization of $48 billion — and even beating traditional automobile maker Ford’s near $45 billion valuation. That came after Tesla announced better than expected deliveries for the first quarter of 2017.

Those gains, however, caused painful losses to the investors shorting, or betting against, 26.5% of Tesla’s tradable shares as of mid-March. Those short-sellers lost some $488 million as the stock rose on Monday alone, according to S3 Blacklight. That increased their total losses from shorting Tesla in 2017 to $2.74 billion.

Musk didn’t pass up a chance to make a cheeky jab at those doubters. In a Monday tweet, he wrote: “Stormy weather in Shortville…”

Stormy weather in Shortville …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2017

Maybe Musk was relishing the fact that his warning to short sellers almost exactly a year ago, also via Twitter, proved prescient. Since Musk said last April that shorting his stock is “probably unwise,” shares have risen 19%.

Tesla’s short-sellers are an enormous contingent, especially considering that Snap (SNAP), for example—the so-far profitless company behind Snapchat, with losses greater than both Tesla and Twitter combined—has reported short interest totaling just about 8.6% of its tradable shares.

Among the most notable of those short-sellers is Kynikos Associates hedge fund manager Jim Chanos. The investor famed for shorting Enron before its collapse has compared the electric car company to troubled stock Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX), and characterized Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity as a “bailout.” After all, both have been considered cash burning machines with no profit to show. But most investors haven’t seen much of Enron in Tesla. Since Chanos unveiled his short position in the company in September, Tesla’s stock has risen 49%. Similarly, since the short-seller who helped take down Valeant, Andrew Left, announced his position against Tesla just over a year ago, shares of the company are up 56%.

If they did choose to give up and “cover,” or close out their short positions, Left and Chanos wouldn’t be the first to admit defeat against Tesla. Kase Capital hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson already paved the way in 2014. Back then, shares rose from about $34 in 2012 to about $205—making it a “traumatic experience” for Tilson, he said recently.

And coincidentally or not, Musk has been right about his stock on more than one occasion. Not only has the stock risen since Musk called shorting Tesla “unwise,” the stock also slid after Musk implied the stock was overvalued. Back then, he told CNBC that “people sometimes get carried away with our stock. … Our stock price is kind of high right now.”

But even if Tesla’s bears have been wrong about the stock over the last year, they aren’t wrong to have doubts about the company. After all, investors have put enormous hope on Tesla’s mass market car, the Model 3—a vehicle that has yet to be fully unveiled by a company with a history of production woes.

This story has been modified to include new data on Tesla short-sellers’ financial losses.

About the Author
Lucinda Shen
By Lucinda Shen
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Professional businesswoman working at a desk while interacting with an AI assistant on a tablet screen. The scene shows a modern office environment with notebook, laptop, and digital tools, representing productivity, smart technology, and digital transformation in business. Ideal for concepts related to artificial intelligence, remote work, automation, business innovation, and modern office lifestyle.
NewslettersCFO Daily
CFOs could cut agentic AI costs up to 60% by fixing this overlooked data problem
By Sheryl EstradaMay 19, 2026
9 minutes ago
Don’t hold your breath for the great AI job reshuffle, says Goldman Sachs—there’s little evidence of ‘too many coders and not enough plumbers’
InvestingMarkets
Don’t hold your breath for the great AI job reshuffle, says Goldman Sachs—there’s little evidence of ‘too many coders and not enough plumbers’
By Eleanor PringleMay 19, 2026
56 minutes ago
Travelers walk past an Alibaba Cloud advertisement in China
AITerm Sheet
DeepSeek and China’s AI boom are increasingly powered by state money
By Lily Mae LazarusMay 19, 2026
2 hours ago
Top CD rates today, May 19, 2026: Lock in up to up to 4.20%
Personal FinanceBanks
Top CD rates today, May 19, 2026: Lock in up to up to 4.20%
By Glen Luke FlanaganMay 19, 2026
2 hours ago
The top high-yield savings rates: Up to 5.00% on May 19, 2026
Personal FinanceSavings accounts
The top high-yield savings rates: Up to 5.00% on May 19, 2026
By Glen Luke FlanaganMay 19, 2026
2 hours ago
Yahoo Finance's AlphaSpace is live as of May 19.
InvestingYahoo
Exclusive: Yahoo Finance is building a Bloomberg Terminal for everyone else
By Nick LichtenbergMay 19, 2026
2 hours ago

Most Popular

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
7 days ago
While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense and gold
Economy
While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense and gold
By Eva RoytburgMay 18, 2026
17 hours ago
Current price of oil as of May 18, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 18, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 18, 2026
23 hours ago
EXCLUSIVE: An hour in the Oval Office with the CEO-in-Chief, President Trump
Politics
EXCLUSIVE: An hour in the Oval Office with the CEO-in-Chief, President Trump
By Alyson ShontellMay 18, 2026
1 day ago
Spirit Airlines apologizes to all the Americans who can't afford any summer vacation flights as it shuts down
Travel & Leisure
Spirit Airlines apologizes to all the Americans who can't afford any summer vacation flights as it shuts down
By Rio Yamat and The Associated PressMay 18, 2026
23 hours ago
Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
AI
Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI
By Jake AngeloMay 16, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.