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- Billionaire investor George Soros’ family office dumped its entire stake in Tesla during the first quarter of 2023.
- Soros Fund Management likely enjoyed gains from the EV stock’s 68% surge in the January-March period.
- The fund also reduced its exposure to First Horizon Bank amid the banking turbulence.
George Soros’ family office cashed out on Tesla’s impressive stock-market rebound this year by selling its entire stake in the first quarter, according to a 13F filing published Friday.
After the selloff, Elon Musk took to Twitter to compare Soros to Marvel Comics villain Magneto and to claim that the billionaire “hates humanity.”
The second-richest man in the world Elon Musk’s recent tirade against fellow billionaire George Soros relies on long-shared antisemitic tropes and could stoke further antisemitic attacks, the Anti-Defamation League said Tuesday. https://t.co/23ly0H4OdS
— Forbes (@Forbes)
May 16, 2023
Soros Fund Management had gradually added to its holdings of Tesla stock during the second quarter of 2022, holding around 132,000 shares by the end of last year. By offloading that position, the fund likely enjoyed significant gains from the surge in the EV maker’s stock price this year.
Tesla shares jumped 68% in the first quarter, thanks to a broad rally in the technology sector amid expectations that cooling inflation would allow the Federal Reserve to halt its interest-rate increases. The stock has pared its advance since then, and is currently up about 37% year-to-date.
Soros’ fund also cut its holdings in electric-vehicle startup Rivian Automotive, and held 3.58 million shares at the end of the first quarter. Many other institutional investors, meanwhile, also sold Tesla on the strength of its first quarter.
In the banking sector, Soros reduced its stake in First Horizon Bank by 14.37% to 7.31 million shares as the industry weathered its biggest turmoil since the 2008 financial crisis, which started with Silicon Valley Bank’s shocking collapse in March.
Meanwhile, the fund newly purchased shares in Walmart, Netflix, and Chinese e-commerce company JD.com during the quarter.
