Electric vehicle giant Tesla has had a knack for being in the right place at the right time, having soared to the top of the global EV market because it was quicker out of the gate than competitors. However, there was at least one instance when Tesla had bad timing: It chose to go public on a day nearly 15 years ago when the Dow dropped more than 250 points.
The company’s stock has had a tumultuous couple of years on the market, but even with all of this in mind, Tesla is still considered a buy by many experts. And it begs the question, if you had invested when the company went live, how much money would you have today? Let’s find out.
Tesla 15 Years Ago
If you were lucky enough to buy the company’s stock on the day it debuted, you’d be sitting in a very good financial position right now. Even if you had only invested a dollar in its early days, you’d still have enough money to celebrate with an expensive dinner for two at an upscale restaurant. Here are some key takeaways:
- Tesla went public at a price of $17 per share in June 2010.
- The stock closed up 40.5% to $23.84 on its first day of trading and continues to be a top performer today.
- Musk, who has never been accused of lacking confidence, said before the IPO that “when people see who’s invested in the initial public offering, it’s the smartest, most long-term thinking investors in the market … The smartest money in the world is betting on Tesla. They must have a reason for doing so.”
Tesla Stock Today
- Stock price: $330.07 (as of June 11, 2025)
- Market cap: $1.03 trillion
- 52-week high: $488.54
- 52-week low: $167.41
If you had invested $1 in Tesla’s IPO on June 29, 2010, nearly 15 years ago, you would have had about 0.059 of a share, which would mean at its current price, you would have about (not factoring in stock splits) $20. To put that into perspective, if you had invested $1,000 at $17 per share, it would have given you just under 59 shares, and your investment would now be worth approximately $19,470.
However, that was just the straightforward version of the hypothetical math. If you factor in splits for Tesla stock, which has done so twice (5 to 1 and 3 to 1), your money would grow a bit more accurately. So if you had invested $1 in Tesla 15 years ago, you would have about $180 now, thanks to 41% annual returns and a total return of 17,893%.
Vance Cariaga contributed to the reporting for this article.