Topline
The initial rollout of Tesla’s “robotaxi” driverless vehicle cabs inspired a major rally for Elon Musk’s automaker, making the company’s CEO and top shareholder Musk, already the world’s wealthiest person Elon Musk, billions of dollars richer.
Tesla stock surged following the initial rollout of its robotaxi program in Austin.
Key Facts
Shares of Tesla shot up 9%, or $27, in Monday trading, closing at a three-week high share price of $349.
Musk, who owns 13% of Tesla’s outstanding shares plus an additional 9% equity stake pending a legal challenges-ridden bonus, enjoyed a $15 billion net worth bump Monday, by far the largest gain of any billionaire on Forbes’ real-time rankings, extending his lead over the next-richest person, Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, to more than $170 billion.
The rally came a day after Tesla robotaxis hit the road in a geofenced portion of the company’s home city of Austin.
The launch was limited – featuring 10 to 20 Model Y vehicles with Tesla operators in the passenger seat – but clearly impressed investors.
The robotaxis “exceeded our expectations,” Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives wrote in a Sunday note to clients after riding in the driverless cars (Wedbush is the most bullish mainstream firm covering Tesla with its $500 price target for the stock).
Tesla stock’s gain also came as part of a broader rally: The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq each gained nearly 1% as Wall Street shook off fears of escalating geopolitical tensions tied to Iran’s retaliation to U.S. strikes.
Contra
The long-awaited rollout of Tesla’s driverless vehicles follows years of safety issues and unfulfilled promises in its full self-driving initiatives, and certainly leaves further room for skepticism. The initial Tesla fleet is a far cry from the “hundreds of thousands” driverless vehicles Musk aspires for by 2026, even falling short of the roughly 100 driverless vehicles from Alphabet’s Waymo operating in Austin since March. Also notable is Tesla’s first robotaxis are Model Ys, not the specially designed “cybercab” Tesla unveiled last year with no set release date and a dim Wall Street reaction. “From our conversations with investors, feedback has been mostly neutral,” Tom Narayan wrote Sunday, noting: “Only time will tell if this will work.”
Surprising Fact
Tesla stock has officially recovered all of the losses it suffered amid the high-profile fight between Musk and President Donald Trump, as the former close allies engaged in a bitter round of name-calling over Musk’s displeasure with Trump’s spending bill. The stock’s $47 share price loss June 5 was its largest on record, according to FactSet data.
Big Number
$85 billion. That’s how much market capitalization Tesla, by far the world’s most valuable car company, added Monday. Ford and General Motors are worth $89 billion combined.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/06/23/tesla-stocks-8-robotaxi-boost-lifts-elon-musks-net-worth-by-15-billion/