Short seller Jim Chanos to close hedge funds, return cash to investors: report

Legendary short seller Jim Chanos told the Wall Street Journal Friday that he is closing his hedge funds, saying that “the marketplace for what I do has changed.” Chanos expects to return most of his investors’ cash by Dec. 31, the newspaper reported. The short seller famously detected issues with Enron Corp.’s filings two decades ago and earlier this year took on Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
-0.52%,
but his funds had dwindled. Chanos & Co. manages less than $200 million currently, down from $6 billion in 2008, the Journal said. Chanos’s funds are down 4% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.59%
has gained more than 17%. Tesla is up 90% in the same timeframe.