The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund missed out on a huge windfall after selling 99.5 per cent of its shares in Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2019, just before the electric automaker’s shares began to surge in late December and through January, CNBC reports.
Public filings reveal that the fund held more than 8.2 million shares by the end of the third quarter of 2019 but now only holds around 39,000 shares. At Tesla’s share price on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s shares would have been worth in excess of $7 billion. At the brand’s current $887 price per share, the remaining 39,000 are worth a touch over $34.5 million.
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The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund’s faith in Tesla started to fall after Musk inaccurately claimed the Saudis would back a deal to take the car manufacturer private in 2018. In early 2019, the Saudis hedged nearly their entire 4.9 per cent stake in Tesla, taking out other positions to protect themselves from a drop in Tesla’s share price.
Despite leaving potentially billions of dollars on the table, we doubt the Saudis are all that concerned with missing out on some profits. With that being said, they are probably crossing their fingers that their $1 billion investment into electric automaker Lucid Motors proves to be a wise investment, shortly after the electric startup broke ground at its inaugural factory in Casa Grande, Arizona late last year. Will Lucid prove to be a true rival to Tesla? That remains to be seen.
