Short-sellers have accumulated potential profits of more than $1bn since Elon Musk tweeted his intention to take Tesla private.
Although the buyout plan was pitched by Mr Musk on August 7 as a way to defuse short-sellers’ ability to “attack the company”, only 1.3m in bearish bets have since been closed, leaving an outstanding short position of 33.4m shares.
At the close of trading on Friday, the shares were 19 per cent below their level before Mr Musk’s buyout announcement. The mark-to-market value of the short positions is up $1.2bn over that period, according to S3 Partners, a financial analytics company. Tesla’s stock is a battleground between short-sellers and those who believe in Mr Musk’s vision of a rapid mass adoption of electric vehicles. The drama over the mooted buyout has added to a tumultuous year for the company, as Mr Musk has burnt cash trying to ramp up production of its newest Model 3 vehicle.