Tesla was founded in 2003, before Elon Musk became its chief executive.
The company was established in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors. Elon Musk joined as an early major investor and became chairman in 2004; he became Tesla’s chief executive in 2008. The company was named after inventor Nikola Tesla.
Tesla’s first production vehicle was the Roadster, introduced in 2008. It used lithium-ion battery cells and was based on the Lotus Elise sports-car platform. Tesla later introduced the Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y, expanding electric vehicles from a specialized luxury product into a much larger mass market.
Tesla’s market capitalization has often moved sharply because investors evaluate both its vehicle business and possible future activities such as energy storage, software, and automated driving. Those expectations can make its market value differ substantially from that of traditional automakers.