*By Hope King* Few company statements in history have been as controversial as the one Elon Musk made 20 days ago. And although it may seem like Tesla bears and bulls never agree, it's not always the case. Ross Gerber, a longtime investment manager and Tesla bull, said he believes "it was a big mistake" for Musk to tweet about his intentions for taking Tesla private back on Aug. 7. "We're unhappy that this was all done in the public forum," Gerber told Cheddar in an interview Monday afternoon. "[But] ultimately this is what’s best for the company." In the scheme of things he also believes the past few weeks will ultimately be insignificant to Tesla's history. "When we look backwards, this is just a blip in the overall Tesla story," Gerber said. "We'll forget hopefully in six months, maybe in six weeks ー you never know." What's concerning to Gerber, co-Founder, president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, is whether Tesla's production will be successful, and if the company's cars will be profitable. This is a point he'll concede to the Tesla bears. "That's a legitimate argument that's being made," Gerber said. "We look at this tweet stuff of 'oh how much someone might pay for my company' ... as a sort of embarrassing moment for Elon." Gerber, who drives a Model 3 and thinks it's "amazing," said he was concerned in December when he got an email saying his car would be delayed. "That was a much more stressful time." Even so, Musk's post on Friday night indicating Tesla is staying private comes as a relief to Gerber. He said he was "kinda happy to put this all to rest." "We didn't really want to sell our company for $420 a share," said Gerber. At the same time he was mostly happy to see the stock move higher on the news back on August 7, because it indicated to him that there are "many players that will buy" at $420. "We see that as an option right now." Tesla stock got as high as $387 after Musk's tweet but has since fallen back to about $320. Last Monday, it briefly fell below $300 a share. Gerber says he represents about 675 clients ("basically mom and pop" investors). His overall investment portfolio has about 38,000 shares of Tesla. His long position began five years ago, and his portfolio has already realized "millions of dollars" in gains and has $3 million-plus in unrealized gains. Shares of Tesla ended the day down about 1% Monday. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/why-tesla-bull-ross-gerber-says-he-is-standing-by-automaker).
