A Tesla store in Changzhou, China in April 2022. Tencent, best known as one of the world’s largest gaming and social media firms, invested in Tesla in 2017, taking a 5% stake for about $1.78 billion.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk will “continue to blow our minds” with technology even if he deviates from Twitter, according to the executive leading the investment from the Chinese tech giant. Tencent US electric car maker.
Tencent, best known as one of the world’s largest gaming and social media firms, Invested in Tesla in 2017Taking a 5% stake for about $1.78 billion.
“We saw a huge potential in the EV (electric vehicle) category in the company, but also a lot of respect for the way Elon was running the company,” said David Wallerstein, Tencent’s chief “eExploration” officer (CXO). CNBC in an interview on Thursday.
As CXO, Wallerstein has the task of leading investments in emerging technology for Tencent.
He said that when Tencent made the investment, “it was not so clear that they were going to survive and that EVs were really going to survive.”
Since then, Tesla has become one of the world’s largest electric car manufacturers. It has delivered 1.31 million cars in 2022,
But last year Musk bought Twitter, a move investors saw as a major distraction for the billionaire at a time when Tesla needed a steady hand. Tesla stock is down about 62% over the past year.
Wallerstein said that despite the distraction, he still has confidence in Tesla.
“Certainly, it’s hard to focus if a leader is distracted across multiple companies and Elon has a lot of projects going on. I think they’re still doing a great job,” Wallerstein said.
He said there are likely to be many competitors but it would be “really good for the planet” as electric car sales increase.
“I’ll trust them [Tesla] To keep blowing our minds with what they do with technology,” Wallerstein said.
Tencent is a prolific investor in many different industries, from gaming to e-commerce. But the company recently divested some of its stake amid a tighter regulatory environment in China.
But Wallerstein is looking to invest in next-generation areas that could help in the fight against global challenges like climate change. Tencent has invested in companies like Chinese Electric Vehicle nio and the German “flying” car company Lilium.