Fifteen years ago, on June 29, 2010, Tesla went public. Many believed this step would make electric cars available to everyone. Since then, the company has grown into a major player in the car world. It continues to push for new ideas and changes in how we think about transportation.
Back when Tesla first offered its shares to the public, it had only made about $150 million. Most of that money came from the Roadster, a two-seat electric sports car. An Initial Public Offering, or IPO, is when a private company first sells its shares to the public on a stock market. This move allows the company to raise a lot of money. It also lets early investors make a profit.
Tesla listed its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Its main hope was that Elon Musk, who became CEO in 2008, could create electric cars for regular people. The plan was also to build a car company outside of Detroit, the traditional car capital. Instead, Tesla looked to Silicon Valley, where many top tech minds work. Musk invested in Tesla early on. He served as board chairman and then took over as CEO. This happened after he led an effort to replace the first CEO, Martin Eberhard.
If someone had put $10,000 into Tesla shares when it went public, that investment would be worth nearly $3 million today. Putting the same amount into the S&P 500 index would have resulted in about $57,000. Tesla’s stock has always been a wild ride. CNBC reported that its shares have gone up or down by at least 20% in a single month over 40 times.
Today, Tesla is the eighth most valuable public company in the United States. Its value is over $1 trillion. Last year, the company made almost $100 billion in revenue.
A New Destination Beyond Just Cars
Over time, Tesla’s goal shifted from simply making electric cars for everyone. Elon Musk now believes that investing in Tesla has little to do with selling cars to everyday buyers.
Musk stated in an earnings call last April, “If someone doesn’t believe Tesla will solve autonomy, I think they shouldn’t be an investor in the company.” He added that Tesla was already working on this goal. Just two months later, Musk suggested that Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots could one day boost the company’s value to $25 trillion. This shows how far Tesla’s ambitions have stretched beyond just electric vehicles.