On January 20 2023, The Wall St Journal’s Hannah Miao hosted a friendly spirited debate about Tesla with short seller Jim Chanos and Tesla bull Ross Gerber. At the time of the debate, Jim has a short position on Tesla in a portfolio of about 40 companies. Chaos is founder of Kynikos Associates in New York and went to school at Yale. Kynikos is Greek for “cynic”. Chanos famously correctly shorted Enron Corporation before it filed for bankruptcy. Among 479 Hedge Fund Managers on TipRanks, he is ranked #22. He focuses on market valuation. Gerber has been a Tesla investor since its IPO and is CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management in Los Angeles. Ross oversees $2.2 billion as of 1/03/2022. Ross attended University of Pennsylvania and got interested investing at age 13. Ross’s also manages the GK – AdvisorShares Gerber Kawasaki ETF (Symbol: GK) which focuses on multiple themes. GK has .81% net expense ratio. Some of ETF’s themes include climate change, technology, top consumer brands, biotech and streaming entertainment. GK’s invest process starts with research on society, demographic, technological changes that going on around the world. They focus on profitable companies and those approaching profitability near term and with income growing. They actively use the products of the companies they invest in. GK ETF was created 7/1/2021. As of 1/20/2023, its NAV is $15.87 and market price is $15.9 and shares outstanding is 950,000 with $15,074,957 under management. As of 1/20/23, Tesla is GK ETF’s second biggest holding at 6.55%. GK ETF owns 7,392 shares of Tesla. Here’s a list of their top holdings which they transparently report each day at: https://advisorshares.com/wp-content/uploads/csv/holdings/AdvisorShares_GK_Holdings_File.csv
At time of this writing, there holdings include:
| Stock Ticker | Security Description | Shares/Par (Full) | Price (Base) | Traded Market Value (Base) | Portfolio Weight % |
| MGM | MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL | 26,485.00 | 39.05 | 1,034,239.25 | 6.86% |
| TSLA | TESLA INC | 7,392.00 | 133.42 | 986,240.64 | 6.55% |
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP | 3,320.00 | 240.22 | 797,530.40 | 5.29% |
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC | 2,254.00 | 342.50 | 771,995.00 | 5.12% |
| AAPL | APPLE INC | 4,874.00 | 137.87 | 671,978.38 | 4.46% |
| DIS | WALT DISNEY CO/THE | 6,461.00 | 103.48 | 668,584.28 | 4.44% |
| DE | DEERE & CO | 1,455.00 | 410.60 | 597,423.00 | 3.97% |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP | 3,019.00 | 178.39 | 538,559.41 | 3.57% |
| LPLA | LPL FINANCIAL HOLDINGS INC | 2,351.00 | 224.30 | 527,329.30 | 3.50% |
| VICI | VICI PROPERTIES INC | 14,385.00 | 33.58 | 483,048.30 | 3.21% |
| BX | BLACKSTONE INC | 5,600.00 | 85.01 | 476,056.00 | 3.16% |
| NOC | NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP | 1,001.00 | 450.76 | 451,210.76 | 2.99% |
| IIPR | INNOVATIVE INDUSTRIAL PROPER | 5,011.00 | 89.03 | 446,129.33 | 2.96% |
| SEDG | SOLAREDGE TECHNOLOGIES INC | 1,404.00 | 294.73 | 413,800.92 | 2.75% |
| GOOG | ALPHABET INC-CL C | 4,000.00 | 99.28 | 397,120.00 | 2.64% |
| ASML | ASML HOLDING NV-NY REG SHS | 545.00 | 648.85 | 353,623.25 | 2.35% |
| MODG | TOPGOLF CALLAWAY BRANDS CORP | 14,782.00 | 23.00 | 339,986.00 | 2.26% |
| NEE | NEXTERA ENERGY INC | 4,023.00 | 81.82 | 329,161.86 | 2.18% |
| HD | HOME DEPOT INC | 1,035.00 | 315.00 | 326,025.00 | 2.16% |
| NKE | NIKE INC -CL B | 2,537.00 | 126.62 | 321,234.94 | 2.13% |
| MP | MP MATERIALS CORP | 10,053.00 | 30.21 | 303,701.13 | 2.02% |
| SQM | QUIMICA Y MINERA CHIL-SP ADR | 3,426.00 | 85.98 | 294,567.48 | 1.96% |
| ZTS | ZOETIS INC | 1,779.00 | 163.81 | 291,417.99 | 1.93% |
| PSNY | POLESTAR AUTOMOTIVE-CL A ADS | 50,626.00 | 5.60 | 283,505.60 | 1.88% |
| RTX | RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORP | 2,898.00 | 94.36 | 273,455.28 | 1.81% |
| RBLX | ROBLOX CORP -CLASS A | 7,712.00 | 35.38 | 272,850.56 | 1.81% |
| TMO | THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC INC | 458.00 | 593.66 | 271,896.28 | 1.80% |
| PLD | PROLOGIS INC | 1,965.00 | 122.82 | 241,341.30 | 1.60% |
| ENPH | ENPHASE ENERGY INC | 1,074.00 | 222.54 | 239,007.96 | 1.59% |
| SPWR | SUNPOWER CORP | 14,064.00 | 16.33 | 229,665.12 | 1.52% |
| ON | ON SEMICONDUCTOR | 3,463.00 | 66.26 | 229,458.38 | 1.52% |
| WOOF | PETCO HEALTH AND WELLNESS CO | 16,126.00 | 10.88 | 175,450.88 | 1.16% |
| MRNA | MODERNA INC | 900.00 | 193.98 | 174,582.00 | 1.16% |
| EA | ELECTRONIC ARTS INC | 1,287.00 | 125.99 | 162,149.13 | 1.08% |
| STLD | STEEL DYNAMICS INC | 1,296.00 | 108.02 | 139,993.92 | 0.93% |
| CCI | CROWN CASTLE INC | 896.00 | 148.12 | 132,715.52 | 0.88% |
| ATVI | ACTIVISION BLIZZARD INC | 1,500.00 | 73.84 | 110,760.00 | 0.74% |
| LAZR | LUMINAR TECHNOLOGIES INC | 17,497.00 | 6.13 | 107,256.61 | 0.71% |
| NVO | NOVO-NORDISK A/S-SPONS ADR | 700.00 | 141.10 | 98,770.00 | 0.66% |
| BLACKROCK TREASURY TRUST INSTL 62 | 140,603.62 | 1.00 | 140,603.62 | 0.93% | |
| CASH | -37,640.29 | 100.00 | -37,640.29 | -0.25% |
Ross recommends that Jim cover his short position because Tesla is not a bad company and it’s a company producing something the world needs to battle climate change. Ross acknowledges that right now Jim has won with Tesla having fallen over 60% last year. Ross wants to help Tesla and believes that Elon is entitled to his politics which is not popular with Tesla’s main customer base but Tesla should be more proactive to communicate the company’s products and not rely on Elon to do the communication alone for the company.
Chanos has not covered his short and believes there may be more downside at the time of the debate. Chanos is valuing Tesla as a car company using auto industry PE ratios. Chanos is focused on the upcoming earnings report next week and thinks it may be ugly. Gerber agrees with Chanos that if earnings is bad, the stock will get punished. Gerber however focused more on the long term and doesn’t think Tesla is same as other auto companies. He believes Tesla cars are more closer to an iPhone on wheels. Full Self Driving according to Gerber will get better and ask Chanos to give it try. Chanos says he is not risking his life. Gerber was asked what would changed his mind on Tesla. Gerber says he believes Tesla is on a good path and he would reconsider his investment if Elon Musk is no longer leading the company. Gerber mentions that governments are supporting EV cars, highlighting the $7,500 US tax credit and that it is not a good idea to fight the government. Chanos say he would change his mind on Tesla if he sees Tesla income accelerating.