“ ‘We thought he was getting things wrong. I feel more comfortable now.’ ”
That’s James Anderson, head of global equities for Baillie Gifford, explaining to the Financial Times why Tesla’s biggest institutional shareholder is feeling more bullish about the electric-car company going forward.
Tesla TSLA, -2.90%, Anderson said, is a “better run” company after its regulatory battles following the recent addition of independent directors to oversee CEO Elon Musk.
Those additions include Oracle’s ORCL, -1.31% Larry Ellison as well as James Murdoch, the son News Corp founder NWS, -0.61% Rupert Murdoch.
Specifically, Anderson pointed to the appointment of Robyn Denholm as chairwoman as having provided Musk “emotional” support and allowed him to focus on leading the company, rather than such distractions as Tesla’s more vocal detractors.
“I think that the shorts acquire too much publicity,” Anderson told the FT ahead of his planned trip to California to speak with Tesla executives.
Baillie Gifford first bought shares in Tesla back in 2013 and has built that up to a 7.5% stake that’sm now worth $9.7 billion.
Tesla shares closed down almost 2% on Friday at $690.75. It’s been a rough few weeks for the stock, but, despite being dragged down with the broader market, it’s up almost 70% since the beginning of the year.
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