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• Tesla short sellers received a sizable payday hours after The New York Times published an eye-opening interview with an emotional Elon Musk, the electric-car company's chief executive.

• Investors betting against Tesla raked in about $1 billion on Friday, according to data from the analytics firm S3 Partners.

• The Times' interview with Musk came out late Thursday night. In it, Musk lamented the many personal and professional challenges he has faced in the past year.

• Musk's admissions come at a tumultuous time for Tesla, but the CEO predicted that the pain isn't quite over yet.

Tesla short sellers received a sizable payday hours after The New York Times published an eye-opening interview with an emotional Elon Musk, the electric-car company's chairman and CEO.

The investors betting against Tesla raked in about $1 billion on Friday, The Times reported, citing data from the analytics firm, S3 Partners. Shares of Tesla closed down nearly 9% on the day, and dropped close to 1% lower in after hours trading, landing at $303.05.

That means investors shorting Tesla on Friday recovered the majority of what they lost after Musk's now-infamous August 7 tweet, in which he floated the idea of taking Tesla private. On that day, the company's stock rose 11%, and siphoned roughly $1.3 billion out of short sellers' pockets.

The Times' interview featuring Musk came out late Thursday night. In it, Musk lamented the many personal and professional challenges he has faced in the past year. By Musk's own admission, he has been burning it on all sides while Tesla struggles to crank out thousands of its first mass-market car, the Model 3 sedan.

Immense pressure has left the tech billionaire and serial entrepreneur drained, sleepless, and irritable, as evidenced by his recent erratic behavior, which has caused additional problems for the company.

Musk accurately predicted the pinch from Tesla's shorts isn't over yet. The CEO told The Times he expects "at least a few months of extreme torture from the short-sellers," who he believes are intent on seeing Tesla fail.

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See Also:

• Elon Musk didn't used to care about short sellers — here's why he does now

• Ex-Tesla employee Martin Tripp posted dozens of photos that he alleges came from inside Tesla

• A former Tesla engineer says the company silenced her entire team after they brought up safety and quality issues

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