Tesla exec dumps 82% stake; Musk warns short sellers will be ‘obliterated’ at autonomy scale

Tesla’s Senior Vice President Tom Zhu has sold over 82% of his shares in the company, triggering fresh scrutiny over insider confidence. The sales, made between 2023 and 2024, were executed at prices ranging from $174-323 per share, according to regulatory filings.

In the wake of this high-profile sale, CEO Elon Musk issued a stern warning to short sellers. Responding to a list of Tesla's net short positions on X (formerly Twitter), Musk said those betting against the EV maker would be “obliterated” once the company reaches “autonomy at scale.”

The list, shared by X user Alexandra Merz, also included a range of hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and asset managers maintaining smaller short exposures.

MUFG Securities EMEA was followed by Jane Street Group with about $2.77 billion and Citadel Advisors with roughly $1.38 billion.Other names included Adapt Investment Managers, Belvedere Trading and Parallax Volatility Advisers, each holding net short positions between $495 million and $802 million.

Musk’s combative stance is not new. He previously clashed with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates over reported Tesla shorts. According to Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography, Gates’ short position may have cost him $1.5 billion. Musk once warned, “If Tesla does become the world’s most valuable company by far, that short position will bankrupt even Bill Gates.”

Tesla shares have risen 6.1% over the past five sessions. However, it has fallen 16% so far this year, despite being 68.5% higher over the last twelve months.

Tesla in India

The Elon Musk-owned carmaker plans to expand its super charging network in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore as it plans to start deliveries in India by September, a senior company official said on August 11. It plans to have supercharging stations in Gurugram and Noida, besides one more in Saket, Tesla Regional Director South East Asia Isabel Fan said.

The company opened its second experience centre in India at Aerocity in the national capital along with the city’s first Tesla Charging Station. It had opened its first experience centre in Mumbai last month, along with the launch of its Model Y with a price starting at ₹59.89 lakh.