Tesla

Musk taunts short sellers after Tesla surges, overtakes Ford in market value

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Tesla experienced a big surge in its share price on Monday, overtaking the venerable Ford Motor Co in market value, and prompting founder, CEO and major shareholder Elon Musk to taunt the many short sellers in the electric vehicle, solar and storage company.

The stock jumped 7 per cent on Monday, to $US298.52, taking its market value to $US48 billion ($A63 billion), overtaking Ford, which sits at $US48 billion. It is now just short of the $US51 billion market cap of General Motors.

According to CNBC the jump in share price came after Tesla indicated it is on track to meet or beat expectations for the first half of 2017, as it moves closer to beginning production on its much-anticipated Model 3 sedan in July.

According to FactSet, about 31 million shares of Tesla, or about 19 per  ent of the float, are sold short. And, as CNBC noted, this isn’t the first time Musk has trolled short sellers — he also referred to the weather in “Shortville” in 2013.

And, just to rub in the jump in share price over Ford, Musk tweeted:

Giles Parkinson

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of Renew Economy, and of its sister sites One Step Off The Grid and the EV-focused The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

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