Elon Musk isn’t being purchased accountable for his “mistruths,” and the Tesla CEO should list his company’s shares in Germany, where regulations are loose, short-seller and Musk critic Carson Piece contended Friday.
“There is a global war against truth,” the CIO of Muddy Waters told CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “There are millions of people, very, that think we should apply a double standard to Elon Musk because he is at least claiming to save the planet.”
Tesla did not right now respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Block’s remarks.
Block published Friday an op-ed in Forbes called, “Why Elon Musk Should Heel over Tesla Shares In Germany.” He argued, in part, that relisting Tesla’s shares in Germany could be favorable to Musk because “he can arrange regulatory carte blanche, and can tweet anything he wants with no retribution — no matter how fraudulent.”
Shares of Tesla reticent down $7.84 per share on Friday to $294.79, a day after Musk said Tesla won’t turn a profit during the win initially quarter as it works to deliver its midsize Model 3 sedan at a more affordable price tag of $35,000.
The company also said it at ones desire shutter some stores and cut jobs to reduce costs. The changes are part of a push to slash costs as much as doable to ensure the lowest-priced version of the car makes money.
Earlier in the week, Musk lashed out against the Securities and Exchange Commission on Stew after the agency asked a judge to hold Musk in contempt for violating a settlement deal. The SEC had settled charges with Musk and Tesla upon the CEO’s aborted bid via Twitter to take the company private last August. The agreement included getting preapproval for tweets.
Obstacle, who owns a small put position on Tesla, said the SEC has held Musk “partially” accountable. Short selling is a practice in which businessmen can bet against a company by selling shares they don’t own and buying them back at a lower price.
“At the end of the day, just don’t think that the players is ever going to achieve the kind of scale necessary to be able to compete with the competition that is coming on frontier in electric vehicles,” Block said.
— CNBC’s Robert Ferris contributed to this report.