Elon’s Message To Einhorn: Come Over
In a letter to clients, hedge fund manager David Einhorn pretty much accused Elon Musk of fraud after the surprising Q3 earnings report. Elon replied to Einhorn with a message of his own.
In the message, Elon tells Einhorn that he understands that Einhorn wants to save face with his investors, considering the losses he has suffered due to Tesla’s successful third quarter. However, Elon also extends an invitation to Einhorn in order to show him in more detail how Tesla does what it does.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 8, 2019
The thing that really stood out to me was what Elon said about Tesla. Elon tells us in his letter that the reason the shorts have been recoiling from the public discourse is due to the world slowly waking up to the fact that Tesla has made many amazing contributions to “science, safety, and a sustainable environment.”
In essence, Tesla has achieved the impossible. It has created a mass-market electric car and has brought electric vehicles into the forefront of public attention without paying a dime for advertising. Elon and the rest of the team he works with have created a community of people who love not only Elon Musk, but Tesla and SpaceX as well.
Elon and the team at Tesla succeeded in doing all of this while others didn’t even consider it or see it as a real-world possibility. I remember back in 2008 when the phrase “go green” was such a big deal. It was part of Obama’s campaign, and now that Trump has replaced Obama and tried to undo everything Obama has done, going green seems to have been forgotten — at least in the press and dominant political world.
However, Tesla has not forgotten, and it has embodied this movement and grown it into something broader. Tesla continues to breathe the fires of life into the idea of going green and demonstrates it in action by reducing our carbon footprint more every day. As of this writing today, Tesla has prevented over three million tons of carbon from being put into the atmosphere.
“To the extent that you have any desire to learn about the amazing progress the people of Tesla are making, I would like to extend an open invitation to meet with me to discuss Tesla and tour our facilities. For their sake, I am certain your investors would appreciate you getting smart on Tesla.” —Elon Musk, to David Einhorn.
I Have A Message for Einhorn
Elon’s tweet attracted a response:
@elonmusk #Tesla #TSLA @zerohedge pic.twitter.com/DrMk9SWjlf
— David Einhorn (@davidein) November 8, 2019
Mr. Einhorn, it is a good thing you accepted Elon’s offer. Along with your questions for Elon regarding financials, though, perhaps you should look at more of this story. If you see the picture in its entirety, you can see that money is a part of it, but so are humans. If someone is observing a company they think is going downhill, that is one thing. If the person is actively trying to drive away that company’s customers and hurt its financials and valuation, that is another.
When someone shorts Tesla, they are betting against it. That’s fine. But the Tesla short seller community goes far beyond that. You worry about the money that customers are owed, but at the same time, many of your fellow shorts have banded together to advocate for Tesla’s downfall. It is more of an active, obsessive smear campaign than an objective observer’s quiet bet. I don’t know if you are one of the anonymous shorts hiding behind a cartoon character (I hope not), but it’s important to recognize that these people are directly targeting Tesla. They are trying to harm Tesla.
If you are among them, then I have a question: How can you sit there and claim to care about people’s money when you are advocating for the company to fail?
If you are not a part of this active group of vicious short sellers, ignore that question, but note that while Tesla innovates and achieves things you and others said it couldn’t achieve, while tens of thousands of Tesla employees both pay their bills and advance sustainable mobility and energy at the same time, there are people trying to tear down Tesla for no good reason. Not only are they trying to tear down a company, but they are intentionally seeking to destroy the lives of hardworking Americans who work for Tesla, Americans who have done nothing to deserve anonymous, bitter Twitter users trying to cause them unemployment.
Dear shorts, Elon mentions "the people of Tesla" and this means it isn't just Elon or Tesla you are trying to tear down. There are actual people here–working to build our future. You're also trying to tear them down. What did they ever do to you to deserve this? https://t.co/HZro87jSWO
— Johnna (@JohnnaCrider1) November 8, 2019
When one roots for the failure of an American business, Mr. Einhorn, they are rooting for the destruction of America’s economy. Shorting a company is one thing. It’s betting against it. But stalking a company’s customers, targeting its supporters online with efforts to damage that company’s reputation, slandering its CEO on a daily basis (many hours a day), and just generally trying to drive customers away and drive down its value is wrong — and those who do this should stop.
Mr. Einhorn, I also have an invitation for you. I invite you to denounce those who engage in these tactics. If you truly care about Tesla’s customers and shareholders, as your reply to Elon implies, then back those words up with actions.
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