Finance

A small hedge fund manager threw shade at Tesla’s Elon Musk at a private conference, and said the stock is going to zero (TSLA)

Elon Musk and TeslaIn this Sept. 29, 2015, file photo, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors Inc., introduces the Model X car at the company’s headquarters in Fremont, Calif.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

A hedge fund manager dissed Tesla at a private investor confab in New York earlier this week.

Mark Spiegel of Stanphyl Capital, a small New York-based fund, pitched a bet against the carmaker at the Robin Hood Investor Conference.

In the 152-page presentation below, Spiegel said the company faces a rough future.

That includes increased competition from other electric car makers and doubts over whether competitors will come in to move it out of the market for its battery cells and super chargers.

“Over the next few years a massive number of long-range electric cars will be on the market, often at prices subsidized by profits from their makers’ conventional vehicles, an option Tesla doesn’t have,” the presentation says. “So pricing pressure on Tesla will be intense.”

Spiegel also threw shade on Elon Musk, with a series of comments Musk has made followed by rebuttals.

For instance:

“Elon Musk, February 2016: “We do not discount our cars for anyone, including me.”

Fact: Since July 2015, Tesla has continually run a $1000 per car discount referral program open to anyone.”

It’s not clear how much money Stanphyl manages, though it appears to be small. The firm is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, though a Form D filing shows that the firm raised about $4.5 million earlier this year.

Still, an invitation to talk at the event is seen as a coup. The conference brings together top investors to present their best ideas. Speakers at this year’s event included Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio, Stan Druckenmiller, Greenlight’s David Einhorn, Blackstone’s Jonathan Gray, Saba Capital’s Boaz Weinstein and Paul Tudor Jones.

Stanphyl isn’t the only manager to criticize Tesla or Musk.

Elon Musk’s ability to spin a yarn and keep a story going seems to mesmerize his investors, blinding them to the challenges the company is facing,” Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn wrote in his most recent letter to investors.

Check out Stanphyl’s full presentation below.

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