Tesla Releases Short Shorts to Mock Short Sellers, Sells Out Within Minutes

Tesla released a pair of limited edition short shorts to mock shortsellers betting against them. Oh, and also those shorts sold out within minutes.

July 6, 2020

Tesla short shorts — Image via Getty/AFP/Staff
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In an effort to jab those short sellers who "shorted" their company by betting against them, Tesla has decided to celebrate their 2020 success (which they reason has made their critics look like big dumbasses) by selling a pair of limited edition red satin shorts on their website.

In keeping in line with the sense of humor mentioned in that first sentence, shorts were retailing for $69.420, with that "420" part being a reference to a 2017 tweet in which Elon Musk got in trouble after he said he planned to take the company private when stock prices hit $420 per share. We say were because the shorts appear to have sold out very quickly, so if you want to own a pair you'll have to pay resellers whatever they're going for on re-selling sites (see: a lot more than retail).

Apparently said shorts went so fast that the Tesla website crashed as a result. At least according to a follow-up tweet from Musk:

The shorts' release were first ~~hinted at~~ outright announced last Thursday in a tweet in which Musk wrote: "Tesla will make fabulous short shorts in radiant red satin with gold trim." That announcement was followed by a tweet in which he said, "Will send some to the Shortseller Enrichment Commission to comfort them through these difficult times":

On that same Thursday, Musk continued to talk further shit with a quip continuing to call out the Securites and Exchange Commission by saying "SEC, three letter acronym, middle word is Elon's":

Tesla's delving into the fashion industry was a shot at short sellers who had banked on the company's stock going down.

As CNN reports, Tesla had been hard up for cash as recently as last year. In May of 2019 they were selling debt and additional stock shares in an effort to replenish their financial reserves. But, by January 2020, they reported turning an annual profit for the first time. Though they (like most companies) have been hindered by the coronavirus, to a degree in which Musk's response made national news, Tesla still pumped out pretty strong delivery numbers for their cars in 2020's second quarter. They are now the most valuable automaker on the planet.

CNN reports they made 90,650 car deliveries to customers in that quarter, down just five percent from the same period in 2019, and (more relevantly given the challenges presented by COVID-19) far better than the 30 percent drop-off reported by other automakers dealing with the same virus-related issues.