Tesla’s Biggest Investor Lacks Conviction in its Courage

Baillie Gifford & Co. is the largest investor in Tesla Inc. after the electric car company’s maverick billionaire founder, Elon Musk. The Edinburgh-based fund manager owns about 7.7 percent of the company, a stake worth about $4.5 billion. You might think that such a committed investor would be 100 percent convinced Musk will confound critics of his automaking adventure. You’d be wrong:

Those comments are from Baillie Gifford partner James Anderson, published Friday in an interview with Citywire. Now, of course he’s absolutely correct to say there are no certainties in life or, indeed, investing. But his slightly less-than-ringing endorsement of Tesla’s prospects of delivering stellar returns — “a good possibility” and “we think there is a chance” — seem at odds with the size of the bet the Scottish firm, which oversees about $255 billion in total, is making on Musk’s ability to deliver on his promises.