Many prominent Wall Street investors have decided to pour money into General Motors (GM) after the Michigan-based company unveiled plans to shift towards electric vehicles.
The investment flow was led Ark Invest's Cathie Wood, who surprised Wall Street by selling $12.7 million of Tesla shares in mid-May only to buy 158,187 shares in GM, worth about $6 million. As a result, Elon Musk's electric vehicle company lost its top status in Wood’s funding plan for the first time in over four years, Bloomberg reported.
Wood's decision to chip in on GM caused further eyebrow-raising given that she has not been a particular fan of legacy automakers. However, following an April meeting with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, the Tesla-loving Ark Invest honcho appeared to have had a change of heart.
But Wood has another powerful money mover on the opposite side of the EV financial periphery: George Soros, who sold his 1.26 million shares in GM earlier in the year.
"It’s a sign of the uncertainty of the future. Even Soros doesn’t know [what will happen] because he was invested in Fisker [Automotive] and now he’s not," business professor at the University of Michigan Erik Gordon told Detroit Free Press.
One of the world’s biggest and oldest car manufacturers, General Motors has lost its title as the US' top car seller for the first time in about a century following a dip in clients caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the current shortage of semiconductor parts. Now, GM puts its hope in electric vehicles, riding the wave of a global push for net-zero emissions.
"Some look at GM and Ford and see a buying opportunity because when they start putting out more EVs, they’ll steamroller back with their dealer networks and these little ones won't matter," Gordon continued.
The company behind Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC has announced that it will release 30 new global electric vehicles by 2035. Among the new vehicles is the Cadillac Lyriq that is due to hit the market in 2023, with the Silverado EV pickup to follow in 2024.
But the company's move towards electric vehicles did not seem to impress Soros, as the prominent investor decided to sell all of his GM shares in March. Instead, Soros decided to pour his money into Tesla rivals Lucid and Nio, along with Rivian electric carmaker. The latter has already enjoyed investment support from Soros, but Lucid and Nio are new bets.
Soros did not disclose his motives for ditching GM, but financial experts believe that his move could indicate uncertainty on Wall Street and potentially prompt even more movements from other investors who might follow his lead as they trust his view of the market.