Real money statement: Musk invests $1 billion to increase his stake, Tesla erases its decline for the year
According to documents disclosed on Monday, Musk purchased approximately 2.57 million shares of Tesla stock last week at a price ranging from $371 to $396 per share. This increase in holdings is seen as an important step for Musk to achieve his goal of a 20% stake, ensuring the company's competitiveness as it transitions into the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics. Tesla's stock rose as much as 7.5% on Monday, closing up 3.6%, rebounding 85% from its year-to-date low in April
Tesla CEO Elon Musk increased his stake in the company with approximately $1 billion in cash, sending a strong signal of confidence to the market. The company's stock price rose further, erasing its decline this year.
According to documents disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, Musk conducted a series of transactions last week, purchasing about 2.57 million shares of Tesla stock at prices ranging from $371 to $396 per share, totaling approximately $1 billion. This marks the first large-scale purchase in the open market since he bought shares worth about $10 million in February 2020.
The market reacted quickly and positively. Following the disclosure of the documents, Tesla's stock price surged more than 8% in pre-market trading on Monday, reaching $428, boosting the company's market value by about $100 billion. Analysts pointed out that this round of increases helped the stock technically break through.
The backdrop of this purchase is that Tesla's board is actively defending Musk. Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm, in a media interview, called Musk a "once-in-a-generation leader" and emphasized that retaining him is "the best way to optimize Tesla's future."
Aiming for 20% Ownership and Ambitions in Artificial Intelligence
Regulatory documents show that Musk's acquisition occurred last Friday through a series of transactions. This nearly $1 billion investment is his largest personal move in the open market in recent years, significantly different from his symbolic purchase of about $10 million in 2020.
This large-scale insider purchase has been interpreted by investors as a positive outlook on the company's prospects, directly igniting market enthusiasm. In pre-market trading on Monday, Tesla's stock price surged nearly 8%, approaching historical highs.
After the U.S. stock market opened, Tesla continued to rise, hitting a daily high with an increase of about 7.5% at the beginning of the session, ultimately closing up nearly 3.6% at $410.04, marking five consecutive trading days of gains and reaching the highest closing level since January 23.
By the close on Monday, Tesla's stock price had erased its decline since the beginning of the year, accumulating a rise of about 1.5% compared to the end of last year, and rebounding nearly 85% from the year's low closing price on April 8.
According to some market observers, driven by this increase, Tesla's stock price has broken through the technical pattern of an "ascending triangle."
Musk has not concealed his strategic intention to increase his stake. He has long publicly stated that he hopes to hold at least 20% of Tesla's shares to effectively fend off aggressive investors or potential acquisition threats during the critical period when the company transitions to artificial intelligence and robotics.
This increase is an important step towards achieving that goal. Just last month, Tesla's board granted Musk a trillion-dollar compensation package, raising his shareholding from 13% to 16%.
A previous article by Jianwen pointed out that the compensation plan deeply ties Musk's pay to the company's performance, with the core focus shifting from cars to achieving profit leaps through the large-scale promotion of the robotaxi network and the Optimus humanoid robot. The success of this plan will depend on Tesla's commercialization capabilities in the robotics field and whether investors are willing to continue paying for its future potential.
Controversial Tesla and Stock Performance
Despite Musk expressing confidence through his actions, both he and the company still face numerous challenges.
This year, Musk has faced criticism for his "divisive political" stance, with some arguing that it has harmed Tesla's brand image. In May of this year, he resigned from his position as head of the "Office of Government Efficiency" in the Trump administration and promised to devote more time to Tesla.
From a capital market perspective, Tesla's stock price has fallen by 2% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index has risen by 12% during the same period, indicating that its stock performance has lagged behind the overall market.
According to the media's Billionaire Index, Musk is currently the world's richest person, with a net worth of approximately $419 billion.
