Chamath Palihapitiya has in the past been very bullish on Tesla stock.
Mike Windle/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
High-profile investor Chamath Palihapitiya said Wednesday that he sold his position in Tesla stock over the last year.
The founder of venture firm Social Capital has been bullish on Tesla (ticker: TSLA
) in the past, telling CNBC in January—when the shares were trading hands above $800—that the stock could double or triple in price.
But the former Facebook executive, and special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) investor who helped launch Virgin Galactic
‘s (SPCE) listing, said he cashed out of Tesla to fund other projects “in the last year or so.”
Speaking at a CNBC conference Wednesday, Palihapitiya said he no longer had a sizable stock position in Tesla, having sold down his stake while the stock was on a tear.
“The price has allowed me to,” Palihapitiya said. “I don’t have an infinite pool of capital.”
“When I have these ideas, the money has to come from someplace,” the investor said, speaking of a new venture linked to distributed energy utilities.
Tesla stock rose nearly 700% in 2020, from less than $90 a share, to more than $700. It traded near $900 in early 2021, and today hovers around $780, having risen 7% year-to-date, lagging the S&P 500’s 16% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 12%.
Palihapitiya isn’t the only Tesla booster who has been selling shares of the company. ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood sold more than $200 million of Tesla stock recently. Unlike Palihapitiya, it remains the largest holding in her ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK).
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