"Obvious Move": Elon Musk Invites Warren Buffett To Invest In Tesla As Sales Fall

Elon Musk on Monday invited well-known billionaire investor Warren Buffett to think about investing in Tesla. This comes as Tesla's electric vehicle sales are declining globally and it is dealing with difficult times.

In response to an X user who recommended that the Berkshire Hathaway owner sell his Apple shares and move his money to Tesla, the X and SpaceX owner stated that this would be "obvious" for the seasoned investor. A user said on May 6, "C'mon Warren Buffett, sell all your $AAPL and buy $TSLA." To this, Mr Musk said, "He should take a position in Tesla. It's an obvious move." Notably, Berkshire Hathaway has a stake in Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD but not in Tesla.

He should take a position in Tesla. It's an obvious move.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2024

Meanwhile, Mr Buffett's Berkshire sold off a large number of Apple shares as the company stake fell 22 per cent to $135.4 billion. At the end of the first quarter, Apple remained by far Berkshire's largest holding. In a clarification, Mr Buffett stated that he was cutting his investment in Apple because of tax implications after making significant profits, not because he was changing his long-term outlook for the firm.

"It doesn't bother me in the least to write that check - and I would really hope with all that America's done for all of you, it shouldn't bother you that we do it -and if I'm doing it at 21% this year and we're doing it a little higher percentage later on, I don't think you'll actually mind the fact that we sold a little Apple this year," he added.

Elon Musk's Tesla has laid off staff from the software, service and engineering departments, as per a report in Reuters. The move comes after the automaker disbanded its EV charging department following Tesla's announcement last month that it was reducing its global workforce by more than 10 per cent.

Tesla has been under pressure from dropping sales and an intensifying price war among automakers as elevated interest rates have slowed the adoption of electric vehicles. The company is looking to focus on autonomous driving software, robotaxis and its humanoid robot Optimus, and Musk could be cutting its spending on certain teams to preserve cash for those projects, analysts have said.