Elon Musk’s Tesla the best performing share on the S&P 500 over 10 years

Tesla has been the best-performing share in the S&P 500 over the last ten years, with total shareholder returns of 14,683%.

Tesla comfortably outperformed top-performing technology stocks like Nvidia, Netflix, AMD, and Adobe.

Tesla Motors, named after inventor Nikola Tesla, was founded in 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

They wanted to show people that an electric car can be better, quicker, and more fun to drive than gasoline cars.

South African-born Elon Musk, who has been the face of Tesla for over a decade, joined the company in 2004 as chairman after investing $6.3 million in a Series A funding round.

Musk has served as Tesla CEO since 2008 and has been the driving force behind the company’s success.

Under his leadership, Tesla expanded beyond an automaker through its unique energy solutions, including the Powerwall, Powerpack, and Solar Roof.

Tesla showed incredible share price growth over the last few years and became the world’s most valuable automaker.

However, it was not always easy, and Tesla faced financial challenges and even bankruptcy on many occasions.

It was heading for bankruptcy with just two weeks’ worth of cash left in the bank in 2013 and faced a similar challenge during the run-up in Model 3 production between 2017 and 2019.

These financial problems are a distant memory as Tesla is hitting regular share price highs and many investors remain bullish on the company’s future.

The company was first listed on the Nasdaq in June 2010 at $17 a share, which raised $226 million.

The share price doubled in the next three years and continued to make steady gains after a big jump in 2013.

Tesla was already a ten-bagger in 2019, but over the next two years, the company had tremendous share price growth.

Between January 2020 and December 2021, Tesla’s share price increased by over 1,100%, making it one of the top-performing shares globally.

It helped to increase Tesla’s market cap to $939 billion, making it more valuable than most of the world’s top car manufacturers combined.

An analysis by Charlie Bilello, CEO of Compound Capital Advisors, showed that Tesla’s 10-year shareholder return was significantly higher than its closest competitors.

At 14,683%, Tesla’s performance was much better than Enphase Energy’s 6,907%, Nvidia’s 4,449%, and Netflix’s 2,701%.

The chart below shows Tesla’s share price over the last decade.

Top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index over 10 years

The table below shows the top-performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index over the last 10 years, with Tesla leading the pack.