2004–present

Tesla

Musk’s role: Early investor and chairman (2004), CEO since 2008

Electric cars, batteries, solar and robots. Headquartered at Gigafactory Texas in Austin; the world's most valuable automaker since July 2020.

Tesla was incorporated in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Musk led its first funding round in February 2004, became chairman and took over as CEO in 2008 — the year the Roadster entered production. Then came the Model S (2012), Model X (2015), Model 3 (2017), Model Y (2020), Semi (2022) and Cybertruck (2023). Tesla Energy sells Powerwall home batteries and grid-scale storage, and the Optimus humanoid robot has been in development since 2021. Gigafactory Texas, the company's headquarters, is the world's largest factory by floor area. In November 2025 shareholders approved a performance award for Musk worth up to US$1 trillion over ten years.

Milestones

• ▲World's most valuable automaker since July 2020
• ▲Seven production vehicles from Roadster to Cybertruck
• ▲Gigafactory Texas — the largest factory by floor area
• ▲US$1 trillion performance award approved November 2025