Who Owns Tesla?

Elon Musk is widely recognized as the largest shareholder of Tesla (TSLA -1.11%) stock. However, current and prospective investors alike know he's not alone, leaving them to wonder about the bigger picture regarding who owns Tesla.

One of the most recognizable electric vehicle (EV) companies on America's highways and byways today, Tesla was initially focused on the luxury market. Its sole vehicle available to drivers was the Roadster, an electric sportscar that debuted in 2008.

In following years, Tesla expanded its vehicle lineup to the Model S sedan in 2012 and the Model X SUV in 2015. Two years later, Tesla introduced the Model 3, an EV that sported a more affordable price tag. Rounding out the company's available vehicles, the Model Y, a compact SUV, started appearing on America's roads in 2020. Today, Tesla is developing two more vehicles: The Semi, an electric semi-truck, and the Cybertruck, an electric full-size pickup truck.

In addition to its automotive segment, Tesla's energy-generation and storage segment includes its business dedicated to the "design, manufacture, installation, sales and leasing of solar energy generation and energy storage products and related services and sales of solar energy systems incentives." The company offers its Powerpack battery for residential and commercial-scale applications, while its Megapack is suited for utility-scale energy-storage applications.

Who is Tesla's owner?

Who is the owner of Tesla?

Although there's no single owner of Tesla, Elon Musk is the largest owner of Tesla stock. The company, then called Tesla Motors, was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Musk hitched a ride with the company shortly after it was incorporated, providing more than $6 million in 2004 during its Series A funding round.

At that time, Musk was appointed chairman of the company. Additionally, Musk made other investments in Tesla. For instance, he participated in Series B and Series C funding rounds before Tesla's initial public offering (IPO) in 2010.

Although he receives considerable attention as the CEO of Tesla -- a position he's held since 2008 -- Musk has his focus directed to the stars as well, serving as the CEO and chairman of SpaceX. Musk is recognized as one of the most accomplished entrepreneurs of modern times. In addition to founding SpaceX, Musk founded The Boring Company and Neuralink.

Reimagining urban transport, The Boring Company is attempting to alleviate city traffic by developing tunnel networks. Neuralink, on the other hand, is developing brain implants to help those who suffer from certain medical conditions. Early in his business career, Musk also achieved success as a co-founder of x.com, which eventually became PayPal (PYPL 2.9%).

The largest shareholders

Who are the largest shareholders?

Musk may be the person most closely identified with Tesla, but a number of individuals and institutions hold significant positions in the EV company. Let's take a look at the investors -- both insiders and institutions -- that represent the largest shareholders.

Individuals

1. Elon Musk: As the largest individual Tesla shareholder, Musk had 411,062,076 shares of common stock as of Dec. 31, 2023. Musk's position represented almost 13% of the outstanding common stock.
2. Kimbal Musk: The younger brother of Elon, Kimbal is the insider with the second-largest position in Tesla, owning 1,608,720 shares, or 0.05% of Tesla's outstanding common stock as of April 2023.
3. Vaibhav Taneja: Acting as Tesla's chief financial officer (CFO) since August 2023, Taneja had 104,930 shares of Tesla's common stock as of December 2023.
4. Tom Zhu: First hired at Tesla in 2014, Zhu has served as the company's senior vice president of automotive since April 2023. As of March 2024, Zhu owned 63,171 shares, about 0.002% of Tesla's common stock.
5. Andrew Baglino: Celebrating more than four years as the company's senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, Baglino owned 31,230 shares of common stock, representing about 0.001% of Tesla's outstanding common stock.

Institutions

1. Vanguard Group: Providing its services to more than 50 million investors, the Vanguard Group holds 229,805,491 shares of Tesla -- representing an ownership stake of more than 7.2% -- through several mutual funds, such as the Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares, Institutional Total Stock Market Index Fund, and Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares.
2. BlackRock: With about $10 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock holds its 188,797,465 shares -- about 5.9% of Tesla's outstanding shares -- in several investment vehicles, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), like the BlackRock Future Tech ETF (BTEK 2.68%) and iShares U.S. Consumer Discretionary ETF (IYC 0.68%).
3. State Street: The third-largest institutional owner of Tesla stock is State Street, with 108,871,505 shares -- an ownership stake of more than 3.4% -- in a variety of ETFs. Tesla has a major position in the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLY 0.9%), for example, representing 17.9% of the ETF's holdings.
4. Geode Capital Management: Founded in 2001, Geode, which manages Fidelity Investments' stock index funds, has more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management. It owns 55,256,335 shares of Tesla stock, representing an ownership stake of more than 1.7%.
5. Capital World Investors: Helping investors build wealth since 1931, Capital World owns 41,034,947 shares -- about 1.3% of Tesla's outstanding stock. Capital World offers the Capital Group Growth ETF (CGGR 1.21%). Tesla represents about 4.9% of the fund's holdings.

Tesla's board of directors

Who is on the board of directors for Tesla?

Helping to shape the company's direction, the board of directors has various responsibilities that ensure the company is well managed. Investors often pay close attention to people on the board of directors since their stock purchases or sales may provide insight into how the company is faring.

Elon Musk: A board member since 2004, Musk stepped down from his role as chairman in 2018 due to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which had charged Musk with misleading investors through a series of tweets.

Ira Ehrenpreis: A Tesla board member since 2007, venture capitalist Ehrenpreis is an independent director who serves as the chair of two committees: the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee. Ehrenpreis is the founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, a venture capital firm.

James Murdoch: An independent director who has served on Tesla's board since 2017, Murdoch is a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Audit Committee, and the Disclosures and Control Committee. Previously, Murdoch had served in leadership roles for several media companies, including as CEO of Twenty-First Century Fox from 2015 to 2019 and CEO of Sky from 2003 to 2007.

JB Straubel: A Tesla co-founder, Straubel was the company's chief technology officer from May 2005 to July 2019, when he left to found Redwood Materials, a company specializing in recycling EV batteries and other lithium-ion batteries. Strauble rejoined the Tesla board in 2023. As of his latest SEC filing in 2019, Straubel had 276,398 shares of Tesla stock, although it's unclear whether he has engaged in further stock transactions since then.

Robyn Denholm: Beginning as a director in August 2014, Denholm, a venture capitalist, took over as chair of the board when Musk stepped down in 2018. As of Feb. 21, 2024, Denholm had 15,000 shares of Tesla stock. In addition to chairing the Audit Committee and Disclosure Controls Committee, Denholm is a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Compensation Committee.

Joe Gebbia: Co-founder of Airbnb (ABNB 0.75%), Gebbia took a position on Tesla's board of directors in 2022. An independent director, Gebbia is a member of the Audit Committee.

Kimbal Musk: Since April 2004, Musk has served as a Tesla board member. An entrepreneur celebrating 20 years (starting in 2004) as a Tesla board member, Musk also serves as a director for another of his older brother's endeavors, SpaceX, where Kimbal has been a board member since 2002.

Kathleen Wilson-Thompson: For more than five years, Wilson-Thompson has served as a Tesla board member. An independent director, she is a member of several committees: the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Disclosure Controls Committee. From December 2014 to January 2021, Wilson-Thompson was executive vice president at Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA 0.57%).

How to invest

How to invest in Tesla

Since its 2010 IPO, Tesla stock has sparked investor excitement. Whether you're just learning how to invest your money or you're old hat at investing in stocks, there's a strong likelihood that you've considered the advantages of buying Tesla stock.

Related investing topics

For years, the stock has electrified both bulls, who believe the stock can drive considerably higher, and bears, who believe the stock is consistently overvalued and poised to plummet. Cathie Wood, for example, is one of the stock's most outspoken bulls. The ARK Invest ETFs hold about 3.8 million shares of Tesla stock, and Wood has argued that Tesla stock could drive to $2,000 by 2027.

For investors who find that the growth potential of Tesla stock revs their engines, buying shares is as simple as opening a brokerage account, funding the account, and clicking the buy button. On the other hand, others who are more circumspect about risk may prefer to gain Tesla exposure through an EV ETF.

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