George Soros' fund snapped up Tesla stock, boosting its stake by nearly 50% as Elon Musk's Twitter antics weighed on the automaker's shares
- Billionaire investor George Soros's family office loaded up on Tesla stock in the last quarter of 2022.
- Soros Fund Management grew its stake in the EV maker by nearly 50%, a SEC filing showed this week.
George Soros's family office loaded up on Tesla stock last quarter, meaning it likely benefited from the surge in the electric-vehicle manufacturer's stock price this year.
Soros Fund Management bought about 42,000 Tesla shares in the three months ending December 31, lifting its stake by 47% to around 132,000 shares, according to a 13F filing published Monday.
The fund also purchased bullish call options — which allow it to buy more shares at a fixed price before a particular date — on another 200,000 shares of the Elon Musk-run automaker.
Excluding those options, the value of the fund's Tesla position actually fell 32% to $16.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.
A combination of rising interest rates, growing fears of a recession, and shareholders' concerns about CEO Musk's chaotic Twitter takeover fueled a massive selloff in that period. The EV maker's share price fell 55% in just three months.
But Tesla has rallied 58% this year, likely netting Soros significant gains. Investors have warmed to the stock following a robust fourth-quarter earnings performance and investors' expectation that the cost of borrowing will start to fall before the end of the year.
Soros' fund also upped its stake in Peloton, took new positions in General Motors and the surging meme stock Carvana, and dumped its shares in Zoom over the last quarter, according to Monday's 13F filing.
Soros Fund Management also snapped up 500,000 call options on ARK's Innovation ETF – the Cathie Wood-managed fund that tumbled in 2022 but lists Tesla as its biggest holding.