By When Elon Musk started making noise in the automobile industry he was widely cast aside. His ideas for a fully autonomous fleet of electronic cars within an ambitious time frame were literally laughed at by the powers that be at big car companies.
No wonder then that today’s announcement proved a very sweet moment for Musk, who’s had a killer week having overseen the successful reuse of a space rocket for the first time.
Tesla is now worth more than Ford. A remarkable feat for a company that’s only been around for thirteen years. The electronic car company exceeded expectations with shipments of 25,000 in the first quarter of 2017.
Tesla is now valued at $48.7 billion, approximately $3.4 billion more than car giant Ford.
The news is particularly sweet as Tesla has been the target of many short sellers. They piled into Tesla as the stock climbed, but they’re still waiting for the price drop they’re betting on – and it’s now further away than ever. And Musk couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at his haters.
Stormy weather in Shortville …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2017
Tesla’s gain on Monday cost short sellers $488 million. Which makes their total losses so far this year $2.74 billion, which is already worse than the whole of 2016. Ouch.