Tesla: From Near-Bankruptcy to AI Revolutionary
Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning and named after physicist Nikola Tesla, Tesla set out to disrupt traditional gasoline-powered vehicles. In 2004, Elon Musk invested $6.5 million, took the helm, and proposed a "three-phase strategy": launch the premium Roadster sports car (delivered 2008), followed by the luxury Model S (2012), and finally enter the mass market.
Survival Crisis
During the 2008 financial crisis, Tesla faced near-bankruptcy. Musk personally injected $70 million to rescue the company. Its 2010 Nasdaq debut priced shares at $17 (post-stock split equivalent: $1.13), with an initial market cap of just $1.97 billion. Tesla turned its first profit in 2013 fueled by stronger-than-expected Model S sales, triggering an 81% monthly stock surge that pushed its valuation past $30 billion and secured its survival.
The Trillion-Dollar Saga
2020 saw Tesla's stock soar 800% year-over-year, driven by Model Y deliveries and Full Self-Driving (FSD) breakthroughs. In October 2021, Hertz's 100,000-vehicle order propelled its market cap past $1 trillion—equivalent to the combined value of Toyota, BYD, Xiaomi, and Ferrari. A $10,000 investment at IPO would have grown to nearly $3 million by 2025, delivering 50x the returns of the S&P 500.
Transition Pains & AI Gambit
From 2024, aging models and price wars with Chinese automakers triggered sales declines: Q1 2025 deliveries fell 13% year-on-year, with February China sales plunging 49%. Musk’s political involvement sparked brand crises, erasing $800 billion from its peak valuation. Tesla now bets its future on two core technologies:
· FSD Autonomy: Launched driverless taxi trials in Austin (June 2025). FSD V13 demonstrates 1/8.5th the accident rate of human drivers. Aims to increase vehicle weekly utilization from 10 to 50 hours.
· Optimus Robot: Plans to mass-produce thousands for factory testing in 2025. Targets reducing costs to $20,000/unit by 2026. Musk predicts its revenue potential "exceeds $10 trillion."
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