Steve “Big Short” Eisman Is Shorting Tesla

Steve Eisman, one of the investors whose anticipation of the financial crisis was central to The Big Short, is shorting Tesla.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Eisman described Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a very smart man who faces serious business problems.

“He’s nowhere in autonomous driving, as far as I can tell, and big competition is coming in his space next year,” Eisenman said.

Eisman was played by Steve Carell in the film of Michael Lewis’ book The Big Short.  He came to the conclusion that the housing bubble was about to burst after listening to many of the biggest housing bulls enthusiastically promote investing in mortgages.

Eisman is not the only well-known short seller to seek profits from a decline in Tesla. Jim Chanos, the short-seller who predicted the collapse of Enron, is also short Tesla.

“To me, where the stock is now is not the story,” Chanos said in an interview on CNBC. “We think the equity is worthless.”