Tesla Electric Car Company:
TeslaMain article: Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk poses, arms crossed and smirking, before a Tesla Model SMusk next to a Tesla Model S, 2011. Tesla, Inc.—originally Tesla Motors—was established in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who supported the firm until the Series A round of investment. Both guys played significant roles in the company's early growth prior to Musk's engagement. Musk led the Series A round of financing in February 2004; he spent $6.5 million, became the majority stakeholder, and joined Tesla's board of directors as chairman. Musk had an active role inside the firm and supervised Roadster product design but was not substantially engaged in day-to-day commercial operations.
Following a series of growing confrontations in 2007, and the financial crisis of 2007–2008, Eberhard was expelled from the business.
Musk took control of the firm as CEO and product architect in 2008. A 2009 legal settlement with Eberhard named Musk as a Tesla co-founder, Tarpenning, and two others. As of 2019, Musk was the longest-tenured CEO of any automobile firm worldwide. In 2021, Musk ostensibly altered his title to "techno king" while keeping his role as CEO.
Musk speaks into a microphone; a projected picture of a Tesla is behind him. Musk before a Model X at the 2014 Tesla Inc. annual shareholder meeting s Tesla initially manufactured an electric sports vehicle, the Roadster, in 2008. With sales of roughly 2,500 units, it was the first mass-produced all-electric automobile to employ lithium-ion battery cells. Tesla started delivery of its four-door Model S car in 2012. A cross-over, the Model X, was released in 2015. A mass-market car, the Model 3, was introduced in 2017. The Model 3 is the all-time bestselling plug-in electric vehicle worldwide, and in June 2021 it became the first electric car to sell 1 million units globally. A fifth car, the Model Y crossover, will debut in 2020. The Cybertruck, an all-electric pickup truck, was revealed in 2019. Under Musk, Tesla has also created additional lithium-ion battery and electric car factories, termed "gigafactories."
Since its first public offering in 2010, Tesla stock has climbed dramatically; it became the most valuable automaker in the summer of 2020,, and it joined the S&P 500 later that year.
In October 2021, it surpassed a market valuation of $1 trillion, becoming the sixth corporation in U.S. history to do so.
In November 2021, Musk offered, on Twitter, to sell 10% of his Tesla shares, as "much is made recently of unrealized gains being a tool of tax avoidance." After more than 3.5 million Twitter accounts backed the sale, Musk sold $6.9 billion of Tesla shares within a week and a total of $16.4 billion by year's end, achieving the 10% objective. In February 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that the SEC investigated both Elon and Kimbal Musk for suspected insider trading linked to the transaction. Musk debuted Optimus, a Tesla-built robot, in 2022.
SEC lawsuit the SEC sued Musk in 2018 over a tweet alleging that money had been obtained for the possible takeover of Tesla. The complaint described the tweet as inaccurate, deceptive, and detrimental to investors and sought to prevent Musk from acting as CEO of publicly listed firms. Two days later, Musk settled with the SEC without admitting or rejecting the agency's charges. As a consequence, Musk and Tesla were fined $20 million each, and Musk was compelled to step down for three years as Tesla chairman but was permitted to stay as CEO. [142] Musk has indicated in interviews that he does not regret sending the tweet that prompted the SEC probe. In April 2022, the shareholder who sued Musk over the tweet, together with many Tesla shareholders, announced that a federal court had determined that the tweet was incorrect, but the actual decision in the case has not been released.
Musk stated in a tweet in 2019 that Tesla will produce 500,000 vehicles that year.
[146] The SEC replied to Musk's statement by filing a lawsuit, seeking the court to hold him in contempt for breaking the conditions of a settlement agreement with such a tweet; the claim was challenged by Musk. This was subsequently addressed by a joint agreement between Musk and the SEC confirming the earlier agreement's contents. [147] The agreement includes a list of issues that Musk would require preclearance before tweeting about. [148] In 2020, a court barred a case from advancing that alleged a tweet by Musk criticizing the Tesla stock price ("too high, imho") breached the agreement. [149] [150] FOIA-released data indicated that the SEC itself found Musk had since breached the agreement twice by tweeting about "Tesla's solar roof production volumes and its stock price."
SolarCity and Tesla EnergyMain articles: SolarCity and Tesla EnergyTwo green vehicles carrying the SolarCity logoSolarCity solar-panel installation vehicles in 2009Musk contributed the original idea and financial backing for SolarCity, which his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive launched in 2006.[152] By 2013, SolarCity was the second-biggest supplier of solar power systems in the United States. [153] Near the end of 2014, Musk pushed the notion of SolarCity developing an advanced manufacturing facility in Buffalo, New York, three times the size of the biggest solar plant in the United States. [154] Construction of the plant began in 2014 and was finished in 2017. It functioned as a joint venture with Panasonic until early 2020.
Tesla purchased SolarCity for almost $2 billion in 2016 and combined it with its battery operation to become Tesla Energy. The deal's announcement resulted in a more than 10% decline in Tesla's stock price. At the time, SolarCity was suffering cash challenges. [157] Multiple shareholder organizations launched a complaint against Musk and Tesla's board, arguing that the acquisition of SolarCity was done exclusively to enrich Musk and came at the cost of Tesla and its shareholders. [158] [159] The Tesla board resolved the case in January 2020, leaving Musk as the lone surviving defendant. [160] [161] Two years later, the court found in Musk's favor.
