Press Space to continue
Automakers sold Tesla stakes once their projects ended
Press Space to continue
Mercedes, Toyota and Panasonic all bought Tesla stock back when Tesla's entire lineup was one sports car. If they'd just held on, those shares would be worth about $52 billion today, which is more than Mercedes-Benz is worth as a whole company. All three sold. And if you'd been running any of them, you probably would have sold too. Mercedes (Daimler, back then) went first. In the 60 Minutes clip Elon says the $50 million check Daimler wrote in May 2009 is what actually saved Tesla, and that…
Di_Krass_@Di_Krass_2d ago
Mercedes sold its Tesla stake for $780 million. that same 4 percent is worth about $56 billion today. in the clip below Musk explains how Mercedes ended up there. the US government gave Tesla almost $500 million, and he is asked directly whether that loan saved the company. he says no. what saved it was a $50 million check from Daimler in May 2009. all of Tesla was worth $550 million then. "they were the only ones. there was no other company, no other entity of any kind from which we could get investments." Tesla repaid the government's $500 million with interest and a prepayment penalty, ten years early. he sent a thank you note with it. "i don't like having a lot of debt. the taxpayers supported Tesla, we ought to repay them as soon as we can." Mercedes turned $50 million into $780 million and walked away in 2014. so was that a great investment - or the most expensive mistake in car industry history?