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- Gabe Plotkin’s Melvin Capital hedge fund has been short shares of Tesla in the past, according to testimony given to Congress.
- Plotkin was asked by Congress if Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s late January tweet about GameStop stock could have targeted him.
- “We have been short Tesla in the past,” Plotkin told Congressman Steve Stivers on Thursday.
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Gabe Plotkin told Congress on Thursday that his hedge fund has been short shares of Tesla stock in the past.
Plotkin is the founder of Melvin Capital, a hedge fund that was caught on the wrong side of last month’s epic short-squeeze in shares of GameStop. Melvin Capital absorbed a 53% loss in January, prompting a nearly $3 billion investment from Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Point72’s Steve Cohen.
Plotkin was asked the question by Congressman Steve Stivers, who wondered if Elon Musk’s late January tweet about GameStop was targeting him.
“We have been short Tesla in the past,” Plotkin said.
Amid the GameStop short-squeeze last month, Elon Musk tweeted, “Gamestonk!!” with a link to Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum. The tweet helped push shares of GameStop higher by as much as 157% the following day.
"Do you believe that that tweet was targeting you because you shorted Tesla stock in the past?" Stivers asked Plotkin.
Musk has made clear his disdain for short-sellers, and poked fun at them in the past. Musk sold red satin short-shorts last year to celebrate Tesla's meteoric stock rise. Tesla had been a heavily shorted stock in the past, likely irking Musk.
Plotkin didn't take Stivers bait, responding to his question with, "We had a very small short position years ago in Tesla. That would be pure speculation as to his motives and putting that tweet out."
Plotkin, individual investor Keith Gill, and the CEOs of Robinhood, Reddit, and Citadel all testified before Congress on Thursday about the GameStop short-squeeze saga.