Tesla first reached a market capitalization of US$1 trillion in 2021.
The milestone came in October 2021, after Hertz announced an order for 100,000 Tesla vehicles. Tesla’s share price rose sharply, and the company’s total market value briefly passed the trillion-dollar threshold. At the time, Tesla joined a small group of companies whose publicly traded equity was valued at more than $1 trillion.
Tesla had been founded in 2003 and had spent years developing electric vehicles, battery systems, and charging infrastructure. The Model 3, introduced in 2017, was especially important because it targeted a broader market than Tesla’s earlier premium models.
Market capitalization is calculated by multiplying a company’s share price by its shares outstanding, so it can change every trading day. Reaching $1 trillion did not mean Tesla had generated $1 trillion in sales or cash; it described the stock market’s valuation of the company’s equity.