Money runs out – love melts: The billionaire who once believed absolutely, poured his wallet into Tesla suddenly “turned into an enemy” with Elon Musk

In 2012, Elon Musk first appeared on Forbes’ billionaire list at the age of 41 with a fortune of $ 2 billion. As a very special person, Elon Musk always makes the world admire and admire the projects he embarks on. In particular, the influence of the Tesla boss is so great that one is willing to “all in” everything in hand to own shares in this company.

That person is Leo Koguan.

KoGuan was born in Indonesia in 1955. He later moved to the US and completed his Master’s degree at Columbia University, and later earned a law degree from the prestigious New York Law School.

Before becoming rich, he used to live in an old apartment in Manhattan.

Friends support Elon Musk unconditionally

Sharing via Zoom in 2021, Mr. KoGuan shared about his incredible investment. He said Tesla is the only stock he holds and the most important thing is that he believes in Elon Musk.

Billionaire KoGuan has accumulated the largest stake in Tesla. He describes himself as an individual investor and started investing in stocks in 2019. This private billionaire once poured money into shares of some famous companies such as Baidu Inc., Nio Inc., Nvidia Corp… However, over time, his investments began to dwindle. So he decided to sell all the shares and buy only one: Tesla.

“I believe in Elon’s great mission,” Leo KoGuan affirmed in a post on Twitter. Bank records provided by KoGuan and Bloomberg sources show that as of the end of September 2021, he owned 6.31 million Tesla shares. In 2019, he even went to see Mr. Musk at SpaceX’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

When the market wobbled, Mr. KoGuan’s stake almost completely evaporated. “I almost lost everything,” he said.

Big wave named “Twitter”

According to experts, the acquisition of Twitter and the sale of Tesla shares is one of the reasons why the operation of the famous electric car company has fallen.

Tesla shares rallied slightly on late December 2022 after Musk told employees they shouldn’t “be bothered by stock market fluctuations.”

Earlier, Elon Musk sold about 22 million more Tesla shares, worth about $3.6 billion, to finance his Twitter purchase. From October 27, 2022, when Musk acquired Twitter and appointed him as CEO, to December 13, 2022, Tesla’s stock price fell 28%.

On December 24, Tesla also announced the suspension of its Shanghai manufacturing plant.

Although the company did not give a reason for the sudden suspension, there is a view that it was caused by an increase in the number of infections after China eased its COVID-free policy.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told financial website TheStreet: “Tesla is trending down and inventories are starting to build up globally. In addition, they also face the risk of an economic downturn. Perhaps, Musk is ‘sleeping behind the wheel’. He should be more focused at a time when investors need a CEO to steer this Category 5 storm.”

Tesla is on track to become the worst stock of 2022 after a sell-off by veteran investors. In addition, the decline in demand for electric vehicles in the context of the general economy facing recession risks also “clouds” the prospect of electric car companies, which are considered the most valuable in the US, according to the WSJ. .

The headwinds Tesla faces have left some analysts and long-term investors unhappy with Musk’s leadership.

People on the same “line” also want to turn their backs

“The market shows that the Tesla brand has been negatively impacted by Twitter ‘drama’. In the past, people used to show off each other proudly about this company’s electric cars, but now it’s different. Twitter controversies are hurting brand equity,” wrote Gary Black, managing partner at Future Fund, which owns $50 million in Tesla stock.

Tesla’s decline has disappointed buying investors. Having openly supported Elon Musk, but facing the current situation, Leo KoGuan also cannot hide his displeasure. As Tesla’s third-largest individual shareholder, he publicly called on Musk to step down on December 14, 2022 in a tweet.

The Indonesian-born billionaire, now based in Singapore, owns about 22.7 million Tesla shares, worth about $3.57 billion as of September 2022.

Calling himself a “fanboy” of the Twitter CEO, Leo KoGuan has completely changed his attitude. Specifically, he expressed: “I am no longer a fanboy of Elon Musk” and called for a vote against Musk and the board “for failing to fulfill their fiduciary obligations”.

According to Bloomberg, SCMP, CNA