Former Greenlight Employee Offers To Debate David Einhorn Over Merits Of Tesla Short

A former Greenlight Capital employee, who is embroiled in a lawsuit against his former employer for defamation, claims the firm “fundamentally misunderestimates” Tesla and is seeking to debate Greenlight President David Einhorn on the topic.

On a post on X, the employee, James Fishback, posted what appears to be a copy of an invitation to Mr. Einhorn to debate, among other things, Tesla, passive vs. active investing and the Fed’s path.

He wrote: “I’ve been invited to debate Tesla with David Einhorn (my ex-boss), among other topics. I’ve been critical of Tesla shorts like @davidein because they fundamentally misunderestimate Tesla’s core value driver: autonomy.”

“The path to truth runs through open debate. Let’s do it!” he added.

His former boss, Einhorn, responded on X: “Thank you for the offer. Normally, I am happy to debate and exchange views. However, in order for such a debate to be meaningful, the person on the other side needs to have some knowledge about the subject.”

“In this case, I am not aware that you have ever spent any time analyzing Tesla or its fundamentals – or really any other equity position for that matter,” he continued. “Certainly not during the 2 years while you were a macro research analyst at Greenlight. In any event, even if I were to go against our policy of not publicly discussing shorts or even confirming we are short, such a debate is not possible in the face of the ongoing litigation between us.”

To which Fishback replied: “I get it. You don’t want to debate me and have to defend the fact that you’ve lost your investors a fortune betting against @elonmusk. Also, if I’m not qualified, why on earth did you hire me? Everyone should read my full lawsuit against you.”

This isn’t the first time the Greenlight former has been outspoken about Tesla. He wrote back in April 2024: “Take it from someone who worked at the hedge fund publicly know for *shorting* Tesla. The shorts are wrong.”

“Tesla’s ‘full self driving’ technology will soon prove to be the Fall 2022 ‘ChatGPT’ moment on steroids. Short-sellers focusing a vehicle sales while ignoring what FSD is doing *today* are making a huge mistake. This is game-changing technology. Upside in Tesla is massive,” he added.

Fishback’s defamation lawsuit against Greenlight Capital claims that the firm refused to confirm his title as “Head of Macro” when future business contacts of his reached out to the hedge fund for due diligence purposes. 

Ok,🐔. I get it. You don’t want to debate me and have to defend the fact that you’ve lost your investors a fortune betting against @elonmusk. Also, if I’m not qualified, why on earth did you hire me?

Everyone should read my full lawsuit against you. Linked below.… pic.twitter.com/mzw2sDCfZh

— James Fishback (@j_fishback) May 16, 2024