Musk tweets torpedoed in short’s lawsuit
Short-seller Andrew Left has sued Tesla and its founder Elon Musk, accusing the eccentric tech billionaire of trying to “burn” investors with “objectively false tweets.”
Theproposed class-action complaint filed on Thursday is the latest of at least seven shareholder suits that have been filed since Aug. 7, when Musk said on Twitter that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 a share.
On Aug. 24, Tesla announced it would stay public. That was after more than two weeks of wild swings in Tesla’s share price as investors scrambled to assess whether a deal would happen — stinging the company’s critics and cheerleaders alike.
Shares of Tesla, which is reportedly being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, edged up 21 cents, to $280.95, on Thursday.
A sample of Left’s trades over a 10day period ended Aug. 17 suggest that the short-seller lost roughly $2 million, according to analytics firm S3 Partners.
Tesla reps did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Left — whose firm Citron Research bagged a fortune betting against the scandal-ridden pharma giant Valeant — insisted in a Thursday interview that the lawsuit wasn’t personal.
“I have respect for Elon Musk as a visionary,” Left told The Post. “This lawsuit only has to do with the statements made that day and mylosses.”
That’s despite the fact that Alan Salzman, one of Tesla’s early investors, got a mention in divorce proceedings last year against Left’s ex-wife, Andrea, who is now married to Salzman.
The Post exclusively reported in December that Salzman’s prenup with the ex-Mrs. Left made it look as if he was charging Left’s minor children rent.
“Tesla investors find more than one wayto stick it to short-sellers,” Left told The Post at the time.