The prominent short-seller Jim Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates, called the proposed merger of Tesla Motors and SolarCity “crazy,” noting that the combined company would need constant access to capital markets.
Chanos said it would be the “height of folly” for Tesla shareholders to vote to bail out SolarCity, which he added has an “uneconomic” business model. He had previously disclosed his bet against the shares of both companies in the spring.
“A lot of people aren’t paying attention to the actual financial statements” of the companies and the risks for Tesla, Chanos said at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha Conference in New York.
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Tesla (TSLA) and SolarCity (SCTY) chief Elon Musk’s vision relies heavily on borrowing from the capital markets, Chanos said, noting that this contrasts with the approach of Amazon.com (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos.
“This is the anti-Amazon,” Chanos said. “What made Amazon great … is that they didn’t need capital.”