Tesla's third largest shareholder, Leo KoGuan, recently announced that he is reducing his holdings in Tesla and investing funds in short-term US Treasury bonds.
As the third largest individual shareholder of Tesla, Liao Kaiyuan's shareholding in Tesla is second only to Musk himself and Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, and is therefore known as Tesla's "most powerful retail investor" by the outside world.
Last weekend, a netizen asked on social media X (formerly known as "Twitter") if he still holds Tesla. Liao Kaiyuan replied that he will hold it for the long term, but will no longer be fully invested in Tesla. "I am selling Tesla stocks and increasing my holdings of three-month US Treasury bonds
Liao Kaiyuan claimed that this move was to hedge his investment portfolio. It is worth mentioning that the "stock god" Buffett has also significantly increased his holdings of US short-term Treasury bonds. At the end of the second quarter, Berkshire Hathaway's holdings of short-term US Treasury bonds even exceeded those of the Federal Reserve.
I believe that World War III (WW3) has arrived, and a stock market crash like 1929 is imminent, "said Liao Kaiyuan." Our debt exceeds $36 trillion; our budget deficit is $2 trillion; and our trade deficit is close to $1 trillion
In October 1929, the New York stock market suddenly collapsed, which also plunged the United States and the world into a decade long economic depression. Correspondingly, the "stock god" has also said in the past that he would purchase short-term treasury bonds during economic crises.
It should be pointed out that in Liao Kaiyuan's statement, he believed that the Third World War had already arrived, rather than was about to happen. This statement indicates that he believes certain current situations, such as geopolitical conflicts or tensions, have constituted a situation similar to a world war.
Liao Kaiyuan did not disclose on social media the scale and speed of his Tesla sell-off. If this is true, then it will be a significant transformation for this person known for his image as the 'Tesla Whale'.
According to data, as of May this year, Liao Kaiyuan held 27.7 million shares of Tesla. In his early years, Liao Kaiyuan told the media that he believed in Tesla CEO Elon Musk and was determined to continuously increase his stake in the electric car manufacturer until his net worth reached $100 billion.
But since Musk acquired Twitter, Liao Kaiyuan's criticism of it has been increasing, claiming that this social media platform has diverted Musk's time and attention. At the beginning of the year, Liao Kaiyuan criticized Musk for damaging the interests of shareholders and the company by selling a large number of personal stocks.
Liao Kaiyuan also stated that he will use his 27 million shares to vote against Musk's $55 billion compensation plan. On Monday of this week, a Delaware District Court judge once again rejected Musk's high compensation package at Tesla.