Tesla

69 major milestones

American electric vehicle and clean energy company that designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles, battery energy storage, solar products and related services.

Latest Valuation

$1,000,000,000,000

12 Funding Rounds

Company Timeline

Years 0-4

Company incorporated as Tesla Motors

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning incorporate Tesla Motors in San Carlos, California; Ian Wright joins a few months later.

Year 0 • 2003

Series A funding led by Elon Musk ($7.5M)

Tesla raises $7.5M in Series A; Elon Musk contributes $6.5M and becomes chairman and largest shareholder.

Year 1 • 2004Valuation: $7,500,000

J.B. Straubel hired as Chief Technical Officer

J. B. Straubel joins Tesla as CTO (fifth employee), later recognized as one of the five co‑founders in a settlement.

Year 1 • 2004

Series B funding led by Elon Musk ($13M)

Musk leads a $13M Series B round; Valor Equity Partners joins the cap table.

Year 2 • 2005Valuation: $50,000,000

Production contract with Lotus for Roadster gliders

Tesla signs agreement with Group Lotus to produce 'gliders' (cars without powertrains) for the Roadster program.

Year 2 • 2005

Tesla Master Plan announces solar partnership idea

Early 'master plan' mentions a partnership with SolarCity to co-market PV panels and integrate energy products with vehicles.

Year 3 • 2006

Series C funding ($40M)

Tesla raises $40M in a financing round co-led by Elon Musk and Technology Partners; includes investors such as Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Year 3 • 2006Valuation: $150,000,000

Roadster prototype revealed

Tesla officially unveils prototypes of its first car, the Roadster, demonstrating ~245 miles range and high performance.

Year 3 • 2006

Founders transition: Eberhard steps down as CEO

Martin Eberhard is asked to step down as CEO; later becomes 'President of Technology' and leaves in January 2008; Marc Tarpenning also departs in 2008.

Year 4 • 2007

Ze'ev Drori named CEO and President

Ze'ev Drori becomes CEO and President in December 2007 (after interim CEO Michael Marks in August).

Year 4 • 2007

Years 5-9

Roadster production begins

Tesla begins production of its first production vehicle, the Roadster (first deliveries start in 2008).

Year 5 • 2008

Elon Musk becomes CEO; layoffs to cut burn

Musk succeeds Ze'ev Drori as CEO in October 2008 and reduces headcount (reported ~25% cut) amid acute cash pressure.

Year 5 • 2008

Debt financing ~$40M avoids bankruptcy

Tesla secures roughly $40M in debt financing in late 2008, staving off bankruptcy.

Year 5 • 2008Valuation: $80,000,000

Daimler acquires stake (~$50M)

Daimler AG purchases a minority equity stake (reported <10%) in Tesla for roughly $50M; later a portion sold to Aabar.

Year 6 • 2009Valuation: $500,000,000

U.S. Department of Energy loan approved ($465M)

Approved to receive $465M interest-bearing loan from DoE ATVM program to support Model S engineering and production.

Year 6 • 2009

First monthly corporate profitability reported (July 2009)

Tesla reports it achieved corporate profitability for the month of July 2009 (approx $1M profit on $20M revenue).

Year 6 • 2009

US$82.5M funding round to expand retail

Tesla announces an $82.5M financing round to accelerate retail expansion; Daimler participates to maintain its stake.

Year 6 • 2009Valuation: $600,000,000

Battery supply / partnership with Panasonic

Tesla and Panasonic announce a supply and development partnership (Panasonic later invests in Tesla as well).

Year 7 • 2010

Toyota strategic partnership & NUMMI plant purchase announced

Toyota announces $50M private placement to buy Tesla stock after IPO and partnership to cooperate on EVs; Tesla agrees to buy NUMMI plant from Toyota.

Year 7 • 2010

Initial public offering (IPO)

Tesla goes public on NASDAQ, issuing 13.3M shares at $17/share and raising approximately $226M.

Year 7 • 2010Valuation: $1,500,000,000

Model S deliveries begin

Tesla launches mass-market luxury sedan Model S; production at the Fremont Factory and deliveries commence (June 2012).

Year 9 • 2012

Supercharger network launched

Tesla launches the Supercharger fast-charging network with initial stations (first introduced as Model S production began in 2012).

Year 9 • 2012

Years 10-14

Bond offering and large raise (May 2013 ~$1.02B)

Tesla raises about $1.02B (including $660M from bonds) in 2013, partly to repay DOE loan after first profitable quarter.

Year 10 • 2013Valuation: $8,000,000,000

Model S earns Motor Trend Car of the Year

Model S receives several awards including Motor Trend's 2013 Car of the Year.

Year 10 • 2013

First profitable quarter (reported 2013)

Tesla records its first profitable quarter (early 2013), improving financial position and enabling further financing decisions.

Year 10 • 2013

Open-source patent pledge

Elon Musk announces Tesla will open-source its patents to accelerate EV adoption.

Year 11 • 2014

Autopilot rollout begins (hardware installed in cars)

Tesla announces Autopilot driver-assistance; from September 2014 all cars ship with hardware to support the feature.

Year 11 • 2014

Powerwall and Powerpack announced

Tesla unveils home (Powerwall) and commercial (Powerpack) battery energy storage products; receives $800M in orders within a week.

Year 12 • 2015

Acquisition: Riviera Tool & Die

Tesla acquires Riviera Tool (stamping die supplier) to bring more production in-house; ~100 employees retained.

Year 12 • 2015

Model X deliveries begin

Tesla begins deliveries of Model X SUV (September 2015) after substantial pre-orders (~25,000).

Year 12 • 2015

Model S cumulative sales pass 100,000 units

Tesla reports Model S has sold 100,000 units globally (milestone for S platform).

Year 12 • 2015

Model 3 unveiled; 325,000+ reservations in first week

Tesla unveils Model 3 (mass-market sedan); more than 325k paid reservations within a week.

Year 13 • 2016

Acquisition: SolarCity announced ($2.6B)

Tesla announces acquisition of SolarCity in an all-stock deal valued at about $2.6B; closes Nov 21, 2016, forming Tesla Energy.

Year 13 • 2016

Acquisition: Grohmann Engineering (~$135M)

Tesla acquires German automation firm Grohmann Engineering to boost factory automation (announced Nov 8, 2016).

Year 13 • 2016

Company renamed to Tesla, Inc.

Tesla Motors changes its corporate name to Tesla, Inc. to reflect broader energy business scope.

Year 14 • 2017

Tencent buys ~5% stake (~$1.8B)

Tencent acquires a roughly 5% stake in Tesla for about $1.8B, increasing institutional interest in Tesla.

Year 14 • 2017Valuation: $36,000,000,000

Model 3 first deliveries

Tesla holds first customer deliveries for Model 3 on July 28, 2017 after ramp and production challenges.

Year 14 • 2017

Unveiling: Tesla Semi

Tesla unveils the Semi Class 8 electric truck (Nov 2017); initial production targeted later and first deliveries occurred in 2022.

Year 14 • 2017

Acquisition: Perbix (manufacturing automation, $10.5M stock)

Tesla acquires Perbix Machine Company to internalize automated manufacturing equipment development.

Year 14 • 2017

Years 15-19

Musk considers taking Tesla private; 'funding secured' tweet

Musk tweets about taking Tesla private at $420/share, saying 'funding secured'; plan later abandoned and triggers SEC action.

Year 15 • 2018

SEC sues Musk; settlement reached

SEC charges Musk regarding 'funding secured' tweet; settlement requires Musk to step down as chairman for 3 years and pay $20M fine; Tesla also fined $20M.

Year 15 • 2018

Model 3 becomes world's best-selling plug-in car (2018)

Model 3 is the world's best-selling plug-in passenger car in 2018 (start of Model 3/Y global leadership).

Year 15 • 2018

Model Y unveiled

Tesla unveils the Model Y crossover (based on Model 3); intended to be a high-volume vehicle.

Year 16 • 2019

Acquisition: Maxwell Technologies (~$218M, all-stock)

Tesla acquires Maxwell Technologies (energy storage/power delivery) in an all-stock transaction reported ~ $218M value.

Year 16 • 2019

Cybertruck unveiled

Tesla unveils the Cybertruck (Nov 2019), an angular stainless‑steel pickup announced with high-range targets.

Year 16 • 2019

Gigafactory Shanghai first production vehicle

Gigafactory Shanghai completes buildout and rolls out its first locally produced Model 3 within about a year of ground-breaking.

Year 16 • 2019

Market cap milestone: most valuable US automaker ($86B)

Tesla reaches a market capitalization of about $86B, the largest for any American automaker to date.

Year 17 • 2020Valuation: $86,000,000,000

Issued $2B of new shares

Tesla issues roughly $2B of new shares (equity raise) in February 2020.

Year 17 • 2020

Model Y deliveries begin

Deliveries of the Model Y begin in March 2020, extending Tesla's mass-market vehicle lineup.

Year 17 • 2020

1,000,000th electric car produced

Tesla produces its one-millionth electric vehicle (cumulative production milestone) on March 9, 2020.

Year 17 • 2020

Becomes world's most valuable automaker by market cap (~$206B)

Tesla's market cap surpasses Toyota (July 1, 2020), reaching approximately $206B and becoming the world's most valuable automaker.

Year 17 • 2020Valuation: $206,000,000,000

5-for-1 stock split announced/takes effect

Tesla announces a 5-for-1 stock split (announced Aug 12, effective Aug 31, 2020) to broaden access for retail investors.

Year 17 • 2020

Added to S&P 500

Tesla is added to the S&P 500 index (December 21, 2020), the largest company ever to be added at the time.

Year 17 • 2020

Purchased Bitcoin (~$1.5B) and began accepting BTC payments

Tesla discloses $1.5B bitcoin purchase made in 2020 and briefly accepts bitcoin for US vehicle purchases (March 2021).

Year 18 • 2021

Market cap reaches $1 trillion

Tesla becomes a trillion-dollar company by market capitalization (October 2021), the seventh US company to reach $1T.

Year 18 • 2021Valuation: $1,000,000,000,000

Moves legal headquarters to Texas

Tesla moves its legal headquarters from Palo Alto to Austin (December 1, 2021); expands operations near Gigafactory Texas.

Year 18 • 2021

Gigafactory Berlin opens

Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg officially opens and begins ramping production (first European manufacturing facility).

Year 19 • 2022

Tesla Semi initial deliveries (to PepsiCo) and continued Semi ramp planning

Initial Tesla Semi deliveries to PepsiCo occur Dec 1, 2022, with plans for broader production in 2024–2025.

Year 19 • 2022

Production milestone: 3 million+ vehicles produced earlier in 2022; 2022 production growth

Tesla announces cumulative production surpassing 3 million vehicles (mid-2022 reported 3M+ produced).

Year 19 • 2022

Years 20-24

Acquisition: Wiferion (wireless charging) announced

Tesla acquires Wiferion to strengthen charging and robotics charging capabilities (announced July 31, 2023).

Year 20 • 2023

Cybertruck pilot production begins

Cybertruck enters pilot production in July 2023 at Gigafactory Texas; deliveries begin Nov 30, 2023.

Year 20 • 2023

Cybertruck first deliveries

Tesla commences public deliveries of the Cybertruck (Nov 30, 2023) from Gigafactory Texas.

Year 20 • 2023

Layoff: 10% workforce reduction announced

Tesla announces plans to cut about 10% of its global workforce as part of cost reductions in April 2024.

Year 21 • 2024

Incorporation moved from Delaware to Texas

Tesla changes state of incorporation from Delaware to Texas (June 2024), aligning legal HQ with operations.

Year 21 • 2024

Market cap again exceeds $1 trillion (Nov 2024–Feb 2025)

Tesla again crosses the $1T market capitalization threshold between November 2024 and February 2025.

Year 21 • 2024Valuation: $1,000,000,000,000

Cumulative production/deliveries surpass 8 million by mid-2025 (quarterly data)

Cumulative production/deliveries data show Tesla surpassed ~8.1M vehicles by mid-2025 according to company cumulative reporting.

Year 22 • 2025

Public controversies and 'Tesla Takedown' protests erupt

In 2025, widespread protests, boycotts and campaigns (e.g., 'Tesla Takedown') occur in response to CEO Elon Musk's political activities; impact on sales and stock reported.

Year 22 • 2025

In-car AI chatbot 'Grok' added via software update (July 2025)

Tesla ships an over-the-air update adding the AI chatbot Grok as an in-car assistant; chatbot does not control vehicle functions.

Year 22 • 2025

First Tesla showroom opens in India (Mumbai)

Tesla opens its first Indian showroom in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex (July 2025), showcasing Model Y as debut offering.

Year 22 • 2025