‘The Big Short’ investor reveals $534m bet against Tesla
One of the hedge fund managers made famous by the Oscar-winning film The Big Short has taken out a sizeable short position against Tesla.
In a regulatory filing yesterday, Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management said it had bearish put options worth $534m against the electric car firm’s stock.
Put options give investors the right to sell shares at certain price in the future.
Burry, who was one of several investors who bet more than a billion dollars against the US housing market before its collapse, has long been sceptical of Elon Musk’s firm.
In a now-deleted tweet from December he revealed his firm’s original short position against the company, which is now worth $555bn.
The hedge fund manager, who was played by Christian Bale in the 2015 film, has predicted that the firm will implode.
In February, he tweeted “my last Big Short got bigger and Bigger and BIGGER,” referring to Tesla’s surge in market capitalisation. “Enjoy it while it lasts,” he said.
Although its shares rose eightfold in 2020, hitting a high of $883 in January, Tesla’s stock has slipped more than 20 per cent so far this year.
A number of other investors have raised concerns that the carmaker is overvalued.