Tesla Drops Restraint Request Against Short Seller 'Skabooshka'

Tesla Inc TSLA is backing off from an effort to get a restraining order against a short seller, saying it doesn’t want to make public some audio and video recordings the court has requested for its decision on the request.

What To Know

Tesla claims short seller Randeep Hothi has endangered Tesla employees in his zeal to gather information on the company, and said in a letter to the court cited by TechCrunch that it still believes a restraining order is needed. But the judge in the case has requested evidence that Tesla says includes “private and personal conversations” of employees that it doesn’t want to make public.

The Alameda Superior Court in California had granted a temporary order in the matter, but was waiting on further evidence to make a final decision.

Why It's Important

Hothi, known on the internet as "skabooshka," is vocal about his short position in Tesla and is part of a group of short sellers and Tesla critics on Twitter known as $TSLAQ. Members of the group monitor Tesla for problems and evidence the electric car maker’s stock is too high.

Hothi, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, lives near Tesla’s Fremont, California plant.

Tesla alleged that Hothi’s efforts to monitor the company have been extreme and have endangered employees. The company claims Hothi ran into a Tesla security guard with his car in February, and has dangerously followed Teslas on test drives.

Tesla shares were trading around $258.77 at time of publication.

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