Tesla, one of the world’s most valuable automakers by market capitalization, was founded in 2003.
The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon Musk joined the company as an early investor and became chairman in 2004, while JB Straubel and Ian Wright were also part of the early founding team. The company was named after inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla.
Tesla's first production vehicle was the Roadster, an electric sports car based on the Lotus Elise platform. It entered production in 2008 and helped demonstrate that battery-powered cars could offer high performance as well as lower tailpipe emissions.
Tesla changed its legal name from Tesla Motors, Inc. to Tesla, Inc. in 2017. Its later growth came from vehicles such as the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y, plus energy-storage products.