By Nicolas
A prominent hedge fund manager is calling on Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk to resign following reports that the electric automaker’s solar panels have been catching fire.
Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn, a short-seller who has publicly sparred with Musk in the past, tweeted his comments Friday morning in the wake of Walmart suing Tesla, claiming it installed faulty solar panels that caught fire at seven Walmart locations — causing millions in damage.
“If @Tesla wants to save the human species, it should pay more attention to the safety of its own customers,” the hedge fund short-seller, who is betting on Tesla’s stock decline, tweeted to his nearly 40,000 followers.
“How many solar panels are still defective and could cause fires? @Tesla should immediately notify the people who live in and work in buildings at risk,” he added, finishing his tweet by saying that Musk “should resign.”
Einhorn is no stranger to making inflammatory statements about Musk and Tesla.
Last summer, he endured taunts from the Tesla boss after he told his Greenlight Capital investors that they were down more than 18 percent in the first half of 2018.
Musk, who holds particular ire for Tesla shorts, sarcastically called Einhorn’s loss “tragic.”
“Will send Einhorn a box of short shorts to comfort him through this difficult time,” Musk tweeted at the time.
And last October, during the fallout of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into Musk’s famous tweet, which falsely claimed he would take Tesla private at a $420-a-share takeover price, Einhorn claimed Musk was looking for a way out of his company to avoid any blame if it collapsed.
“His conduct suggests that he is doing his best to be relieved of his position as CEO to avoid accountability,” Einhorn wrote in a poison pen letter to investors.
Tesla declined to comment on Einhorn’s tweet, pointing instead to the joint statement that it put out with Walmart on Thursday.
The companies said they were looking forward to “re-energizing” Tesla solar installations at Walmart stores “once all parties are certain that all concerns have been addressed.”
“Above all else, both companies want each and every system to operate reliably, efficiently, and safely,” the companies said.
