With his hands in so many pots, and big pots at that, Elon Musk still has no intention of letting Tesla Motors go to anyone else, at least, not for now.
Elon Musk’s list of accomplishments is varied and impressive, including the inception and development of PayPal, which he eventually sold for $1.5 billion in stock. He later founded, and is CEO of, Space Exploration Technologies [SpaceX], which was awarded a $1.6 billion NASA contract to replace the now-retired Space Shuttle program. Elon Musk conceived, and is chairman of the board, of SolarCity, the largest supplier of solar power systems in the US.
Tesla Motors is another of Elon Musk’s babies, arguably the most successful startup automobile company in the last 50 years here in the US. Elon Musk is Tesla Motors CEO and has about 24% stake in the company, valued around $12 billion. Some people have seen Tesla Motors as a possible takeover target for automobile companies and others, but is it for sale?
Remember, Musk co-started PayPal and sold that company, so what about Tesla Motors? Not so fast, says Elon Musk, “I’ve said from the very beginning, from the creation of Tesla, that our goal is to create a compelling mass-market car. I would not consider stepping away from Tesla until we’re there.
We’re several years away obviously.” So Elon Musk hasn’t reached his goals yet, but the other question is, “Who can afford it right now?” Why not Google? Google has about $52 billion in investable assets and also has a couple of initiatives underway, including self-driving vehicle technology development.
Tesla Motors also has significant investment capital coming from Toyota and Daimler, including contracts for Tesla Motors’ electric powertrains, such as that going into the Toyota RAV4 EV. Elon Musk also removed a big barrier to potential sale of the company by posting its first actual profits and paying off all of its Department of Energy [DOE] loans far ahead of schedule. Still, Tesla Motors future, according to some, isn’t clear. So far they’re making a good showing!
Elon is changing the face of transportation to help humanity. He only cares about profits in so much as they are needed to continue the paradigm shift. Seems like a lot of people don’t get that…