Gerber Kawasaki CEO and co-founder Ross Gerber is well-known for his commentary on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) over the years. While Gerber's opinion on Tesla and CEO Elon Musk has shifted, he doesn't consider himself a Tesla Villain and tells Benzinga that he may actually be the hero the company needs.

Tesla Villain Vs. Tesla Hero

The AdvisorShares Gerber Kawasaki ETF (NYSE:GK) no longer holds Tesla shares and Gerber's criticism of the company and Musk have amplified in recent months, but he says he's far from being a villain. Gerber Kawasaki still owns Tesla shares.

"I would argue the opposite. I'm actually the Tesla Hero who actually cares about the real Tesla, the Tesla we helped build," Gerber told Benzinga in an exclusive interview.

Gerber said he did hundreds of television interviews defending the company and defending Musk from buying Solar City and posting about funding secured.

"I was the guy who backed him time after time and after time through this nonsense and helped them become successful in a very small way."

Gerber said he would also send emails to Musk about what he could do to improve the company and conference calls.

"I helped shape a lot of things that happened in 2018 and 2019 and they succeeded. They pulled it off and I benefited greatly."

Public Owns Tesla, Not Elon Musk

Gerber said Musk shouldn’t be setting the political narrative at a public company like Tesla, because his personal viewpoints end up becoming the brand’s viewpoints.

"It's a public company. It's all of our company," Gerber told Benzinga. "And so I'm really heartbroken about what happened to Tesla because right now they should be on track to selling three million cars, not a million and a half."

Gerber said he still sees Tesla as an amazing company, despite Musk's leadership and brand damage he's done.

"I'm a Tesla lover. I am an Elon critic."

The wealth manager said he believes that CEOs have viewpoints that the public doesn't always agree with and those viewpoints should be private.

"If you're making that viewpoint public, you're going to tie your brand."

Gerber told Benzinga this is one of the reasons why he stopped publicly discussing politics. He was told that it could hurt his company and his employees.

"My personal viewpoint shouldn't drive the brand. My name's on the door. So, I stopped doing it."

Gerber said it's the opposite at Tesla, where "Elon's belief system is Tesla now, and nobody likes it."

"He's entitled to his opinions. I'm all for him having his own right to his own views. But as a Tesla shareholder, I don't believe that these divisive views have any place in our modern workplace and/or in the discourse around Tesla."

Photo courtesy of Ross Gerber