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Tesla shares are in a “swamp,” according to longtime investor Ross Gerber.
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He said he sold about $60 million worth of Tesla shares amid growing concerns about the automaker.
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Gerber told Yahoo Finance that no one seemed interested in buying Tesla cars anymore.
One of Tesla’s longtime investors has sold about half of his stake in Elon Musk’s carmaker.
Shareholder Ross Gerber says that’s because no one seems interested in buying Tesla’s cars or robots.
Gerber, who has been vocal in criticizing Musk since the Tesla CEO took over Twitter in 2022, said he had sold about $60 million worth of Tesla shares. He told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview that his investment fund still had a $50 million stake in the company.
“Over time, I’ve reduced my position a little bit because I just don’t have the same confidence that they’re going to achieve the goals that Tesla set a number of years ago and even more recently, which is to sell more cars,” Gerber said, while dismissing bullish talk about Tesla’s robotics and full self-driving technology. “That just distracts from the fact that they have to sell cars this year, next year, and the year after that, because none of that is going to happen anytime soon,” he added.
Other Tesla investors have also grown skeptical and impatient with the car company’s trajectory. Tesla’s shares have fallen 13% this year, largely due to declining sales, increasing competition in China and drama surrounding Musk’s legal battles.
Gerber said the used car market was flooded with old Teslas and he had been unable to sell his own Tesla at what he considered a fair price.
“It’s really a swamp where you have the best products in an industry, but a CEO who doesn’t really work there, who doesn’t try to sell the cars,” Gerber said, adding: “We’ve seen sales go down, and that’s what happens. Sales go down. If you’re expecting a great quarter, you’re wrong. They’re not selling Teslas here, except basically discount, discount, discount.”
And while analysts have argued that the company is undervalued as an AI company, Gerber said artificial intelligence likely wouldn’t save the company. He speculated that demand for Tesla’s humanoid robots would be low, given doubts about Musk amid his chaotic overhaul of Twitter to X.
“The easiest way to do it is to go to your neighbors and ask them, ‘How many of you would buy a humanoid robot built by Elon Musk?’ And the answer is zero, okay. Nobody wants a robot made by Elon Musk. Why? Who would trust him?” Gerber said, adding, “The last thing I need is a robot built by Elon Musk in my house, so I don’t know if they’ve thought about marketing this yet.”
Musk’s leadership of Tesla has come under increasing scrutiny from investors and lawmakers in recent years. Recently, Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Tesla’s board of directors, urging executives to ensure that Musk was meeting his financial responsibilities to Tesla shareholders.
Read the original article on Business Insider
