Chamath Palihapitiya on short seller Jim Chanos: 'He makes money once a decade'

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Chamath Palihapitiya speaking at the 2017 Delivering Alpha conference in New York on Sept. 12, 2017.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, a long-time Tesla bull, just attacked short seller Jim Chanos.

“Jim Chanos makes money once a decade. While the market rips up, the guy just bleeds money. He’s never on CNBC. Every time something works, he’s there for five minutes,” Palihapitiya, former Facebook executive and now CEO of Social Capital, said in an interview on CNBC’s “Halftime Report ” Tuesday.

“Great for Jim Chanos. Fantastic as a hedge… but the reality is being long equities makes sense; being long innovation makes sense. Betting against entrepreneurs who are changing the world has never been a profitable endeavor. Why start now?” he added.

The billionaire investor has been a big proponent of the electric car maker and CEO Elon Musk. Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates, has accused of Musk of over-promising on Tesla and previously said the company is worth zero.

Palihapitiya has made some success being one of the early investors of a slew of tech companies including Slack and Box. In the interview, he compared himself to the “Oracle of Omaha” Warren Buffett, saying he made similar career choices when he slowed down his business to focus on fewer investments.

“Very similar to what Buffett went through in his late 30s early 40s when he shut down Buffett partnership to start Berkshire, I similarly decided I have enough capital. I think I’d rather make fewer, concentrated bets,” Palihapitiya said.

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