Tesla Motors" redirects here.
For electric motors invented by Nikola Tesla, see Induction
motor and AC motor.
"Tesla (company)" redirects here. For the electrotechnical company, see Tesla a.s. For other
uses, see Tesla (disambiguation).
Tesla, Inc.
Gigafactory Texas, Tesla's headquarters, just outside
of Austin, Texas
Formerly Tesla Motors, Inc. (2003–2017)
Company type Public
Traded as Nasdaq: TSLA
Nasdaq-100 component
S&P 100 component
S&P 500 component
ISIN US88160R1014
Industry Automotive
Renewable energy
Founded July 1, 2003; 22 years ago in San
Carlos, California, U.S.
Founders Martin Eberhard
Marc Tarpenning
(See § Founding)
Headquarters Austin, Texas
U.S.
Number of 1,359 sales, service and
locations
delivery centers
7,000 Supercharger statio
ns[1]
Area served East Asia
Europe
Middle East
North America
Oceania
Southeast Asia
Indian Subcontinent
Key people
Elon Musk (CEO)
Robyn Denholm (chair)
Products Cybertruck
Megapack
Model 3
Model S
Model X
Model Y
Powerwall
Semi
Solar Panels
Solar Roof
Production 1,773,443 vehicles (2024)
output
31.4 GWh battery energy
storage systems (2024)
Services Charging
insurance
maintenance
US$97.7 billion (2024)
Revenue
Operating US$7.1 billion (2024)
income
Net income US$7.1 billion (2024)
US$122.1 billion (2024)
Total assets
US$72.9 billion (2024)
Total equity
Owner Elon Musk (13%)[2]
Number of 125,665 (2024)
employees
Subsidiaries Tesla Automation
Tesla Energy
ASN 394161
Website tesla.com
Footnotes / references
Financials as of December 31, 2024.
References: [3]
This article is part of
a series about
Elon Musk
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Tesla, Inc. (/ˈtɛzlə/ TEZ-lə or /ˈtɛslə/ ⓘ TESS-lə[a]) is an American
multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it
designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary
battery energy storage devices from home to grid-scale, solar panels and solar shingles,
and related products and services.
Tesla was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla
Motors. Its name is a tribute to inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. In
February 2004, Elon Musk led Tesla's first funding round and became the company's
chairman; in 2008, he was named chief executive officer. In 2008, the company began
production of its first car model, the Roadster sports car, followed by the Model S sedan
in 2012, the Model X SUV in 2015, the Model 3 sedan in 2017, the Model Y crossover in
2020, the Tesla Semi truck in 2022 and the Cybertruck pickup truck in 2023.
Tesla is one of the world's most valuable companies in terms of market capitalization.
Starting in July 2020, it has been the world's most valuable automaker. From October
2021 to March 2022, Tesla was a trillion-dollar company, the seventh U.S. company to
reach that valuation. Tesla exceeded $1 trillion in market capitalization again between
November 2024[5] and February 2025.[6] In 2024, the company led the battery electric
vehicle market, with 17.6% share. In 2023, the company was ranked 69th in
the Forbes Global 2000.[7]
Tesla has been the subject of lawsuits, boycotts, government scrutiny, and
journalistic criticism, stemming from allegations of multiple cases
of whistleblower retaliation, worker rights violations such as sexual harassment and anti-
union activities, safety defects leading to dozens of recalls, the lack of a public
relations department, and controversial statements from Musk
including overpromising on the company's driving assist technology and product release
timelines. In 2025, opponents of Musk have launched the "Tesla Takedown" campaign
in response to the views of Musk and his role in the second Trump presidency.
History
Main article: History of Tesla, Inc.
Founding (2003–2004)
The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors, Inc. on July 1, 2003, by Martin
Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.[8][9] They served as chief executive officer and chief
financial officer, respectively.[10] Eberhard said that he wanted to build "a car
manufacturer that is also a technology company", with its core technologies as "the
battery, the computer software, and the proprietary motor".[11]
Ian Wright joined Eberhard and Tarpenning a few months later.[8] In February 2004, the
company raised US$7.5 million (equivalent to $12.5 million in 2024) in series A funding,
including $6.5 million (equivalent to $10.8 million in 2024) from Elon Musk, who had
received $100 million from the sale of his interest in PayPal two years earlier. Musk
became the chairman of the board of directors and the largest shareholder of Tesla. [12][13]
[10]
J. B. Straubel joined Tesla in May 2004 as chief technical officer.[14]
A lawsuit settlement agreed to by Eberhard and Tesla in September 2009 allows all five
– Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, Musk, and Straubel – to call themselves co-founders. [15]
Roadster (2005–2009)
Main article: Tesla Roadster (first generation)
Elon Musk took an active role within the company, but was not deeply involved in day-to-
day business operations.[16] The company's strategy was to start with a premium sports
car aimed at early adopters and then move into more mainstream vehicles, including
sedans and affordable compacts.[17]
In February 2006, Musk led Tesla's Series B venture capital funding round of
$13 million, which added Valor Equity Partners to the funding team.[18][13] Musk co-led the
third, $40 million round in May 2006 which saw investment from prominent
entrepreneurs including Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and
former eBay president Jeff Skoll.[19] A fourth round worth $45 million in May 2007 brought
the total private financing investment to over $105 million.[19]
In August 2007, Eberhard was asked by the board, led by Elon Musk, to step down as
CEO.[20] Eberhard then took the title of "President of Technology" before ultimately
leaving the company in January 2008. Co-founder Marc Tarpenning, who served as the
Vice President of Electrical Engineering of the company, also left the company in
January 2008.[21] In August 2007, Michael Marks was brought in as interim CEO, and in
December 2007, Ze'ev Drori became CEO and president.[22] Musk succeeded Drori as
CEO in October 2008.[22] In June 2009, Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Musk for
allegedly forcing him out.[23] The case was dismissed in August 2009.[24]
Tesla began production of the Roadster in 2008 inside the service bays of a
former Chevrolet dealership in Menlo Park.[25][26] By January 2009, Tesla had raised
$187 million and delivered 147 cars. Musk had contributed $70 million of his money to
the company.[27]
In June 2009, Tesla was approved to receive $465 million in interest-bearing loans from
the United States Department of Energy. The funding, part of the $8 billion Advanced
Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, supported the engineering and
production of the Model S sedan, as well as the development of commercial powertrain
technology.[28] Tesla repaid the loan in May 2013, with $12 million in interest.[29][30]
