No, Bill Gates did not "all but admit...". Here is what he is quoted as saying when asked directly:
"Well, you know, I think Tesla is an amazing company. I wish I’d owned or been more on the long side (laugh), but it’s great. I have lots of relatives that own Teslas that I helped buy for them so nothing but positive thoughts about Tesla and its role."
This is a long way from admitting a short. Maybe he just does not want to talk about his investing practises.
Exactly, and Bill Gates also understands that you can fall into all kinds of legal and regulatory traps by making public statements about your investments, something Elon Musk has never seemed to grasp.
Huh? It obviously means he wish he had owned more TSLA shares because they've gone up so substantially. Actually, it means even less than that. It's simply an acknowledgment of the fact that TSLA has risen so substantially.
Of course, the entire discussion is stupid because Bill Gates almost certainly does not pick individual stocks to invest in. In fact, I bet he does not do any of his investments anyways. He has extremely well paid investment managers to handle all that for him.
What's even stupider is the article making comments like "I didn't think Bill Gates was the type to short TSLA".
WTF. A Tesla short simply means you don't think it's worth it's share price and that you expect the price to go down. It means little else. It does not give anyone any insight on what the person thinks about Tesla as a business or electric cars as a future mode of transportation.
I still cant get over how a bunch of know nothings have somehow spread the idea that shorting = evil.
Couldn’t he simply answer: “No, I have not shorted.”, or alternatively, “Yes, I have shorted.”?
Okay, I get that the question is ultimately stupid and useless, or there may be some other stuff he has to be careful with. But he did sound a bit like the way politicians sound by using the word “long”. Maybe I need a dictionary..
I think the Author has a very weird take on what shorting a company means. They equate shorting a company with moral position on wanting the company to succeed. A company can correct and go on to be successful. Similarly, you can recognize that a P/E > 1,000 is insane and still want a company or industry to succeed.
"I understand if you believe that the company is overvalued and you want to make money on a correction, but I feel that betting against Tesla’s stock is also betting against accelerating the electric transition. Tesla has used its high valuation to raise money and accelerate its mission. I wouldn’t want to bet against that"
Well firstly, Bill Gates isn't dumb enough to publicly announce his stock picks. But secondly, I suspect Bill Gates, famously best friends with Warren Buffet, isn't going around picking individual stocks to short.
If I were friends with Buffet, and a billionaire, I absolutely would pick individual stocks on my own, if only to be able to tease him if I were to get lucky. Not as my only investment strategy, sure...
This is a long way from admitting a short. Maybe he just does not want to talk about his investing practises.