Acquired · Tesla · History
History
Tesla was founded in 2003 (San Carlos, California). The timeline below traces every inflection point Acquired identified — founding, leadership changes, strategic pivots, crises, cultural moments.
The story
Tesla was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003, a month after GM killed the EV1. Elon Musk led the Series A in 2004 and became chairman, eventually taking over as CEO in 2008 during a near-bankruptcy crisis. The original strategy — Roadster → Model S → Model 3 — was explicit from the beginning. The Roadster ($100K+) proved the technology; the Model S ($70K-$90K) proved the market; the Model 3 ($35K-$50K) addressed volume. What made Tesla strategically distinct was the vertical integration required by necessity: no one made the battery packs, the motors, or the software stack Tesla needed at the quality and cost required, so Tesla built them itself.
Inflection points · grouped by decade
2000s
- 2003Founding
Tesla Motors founded — one month after GM kills the EV1
Eberhard and Tarpenning found Tesla after GM's EV1 program ends. The EV1 proved consumers wanted EVs; its cancellation proved incumbents would not build them at scale.
[Acquired Tesla episode]
- 2004Financing
Musk leads $7.5M Series A
Musk becomes chairman and largest shareholder. His active involvement in product decisions begins immediately. He will become CEO in 2008.
[Acquired Tesla episode]
- 2008Crisis
Near-bankruptcy — Musk takes over as CEO
Tesla is days from bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis. Musk contributes his last personal funds. The Roadster has engineering problems; he fires the CEO and takes over.
[Acquired Tesla episode]
- 2008Product
Roadster ships — first production Tesla
$100K+. 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. 200+ mile range. Proves that electric vehicles can exceed internal-combustion performance. The 2,500 Roadsters sold funded the Model S development.
[Acquired Tesla episode]
2010s
- 2016Strategic shift
SolarCity acquisition + Tesla Energy
$2.6B acquisition of SolarCity (Musk's cousin's company). Creates Tesla Energy: solar panels + Powerwall batteries + vehicles as an integrated energy system. Controversial related-party transaction.
[Acquired Tesla episode]
- 2017Product
Model 3 launches — $35K mass-market EV
400,000 reservations on first day. 'Production hell' follows: Musk later says they automated too much too fast. The Model 3 eventually becomes the best-selling car in the world by revenue.
[Acquired Tesla episode]
- 2019Strategic shift
Supercharger network opens — infrastructure as product
Tesla's proprietary Supercharger network, built exclusively for Tesla owners, begins opening to other EV brands. The network becomes a profit center and a standard.
[Tesla 2023 disclosures]