Tesla investor Ross Gerber spoke out against Elon Musk on Thursday after the billionaire agreed with an anti-Semitic post on social media.
“Sadly, this is a win for Rivian,” Gerber wrote on X. “I will be trading in my Tesla Model Y for a Rivian next year and I’m sure the rest of LA will as well.”
Musk had been responding to a post on X from a user who said “Jewish communities” were pushing hatred “against white people”.
“You said the actual truth,” Musk wrote in response to the anti-Semitic post, which appeared to echo the “Great Replacement Theory” – a racist ideology embraced by white supremacists that suggests non-white immigrants to the US and other Western countries are replacing the white population. It’s often used against Jewish supporters of immigration.
Gerber, who owned about 420,000 shares of Tesla stock as recently as this spring and is CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, said his clients are “pissed off”.
“I’m getting a flood of messages from clients wanting to get out of Tesla and anything to do with Elon Musk,” he wrote on X. “Many are saying they are selling their cars as well. What is he doing to the tesla brand?!!!!!”
Gerber, Musk and a Tesla spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gerber’s comments came after Barron’s reported that Musk’s name had been removed from the list of speakers at the APEC CEO Summit on Thursday.
“It takes a lifetime to build a reputation and a day to lose it,” Gerber wrote in a post on X, citing the article.
A spokesperson for the event did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
“Elon Musk had a schedule change that prevented him from attending the APEC CEO Summit 2023,” a spokesperson told Barrons. “We are grateful for his offer to join the session remotely, but it was agreed by all speakers that he would attend in person.”
Musk is scheduled to speak at the New York Times’ Dealbook Summit later this month. A spokesperson for the event did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Elon is no stranger to controversy
This is just the latest public backlash for the bombastic CEO, whose polarising views have only grown since he took over X in 2022.
Last year, after Musk came under fire for a series of transphobic posts and comments, several Tesla order holders and owners took to the social media site to say they had cancelled orders or planned to sell their Teslas.
But the backlash has yet to really affect Tesla’s bottom line.
The company sold nearly half a million vehicles in the third quarter alone, contributing to a year of growth for the company that is only expected to increase once the Cybertruck is launched later this month.
