All you need to know about Tesla shares

Tesla has been a publicly traded company since 2010, which means its shares can be bought and sold on the stock market. Tesla shares are traded on the US stock exchange called Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol TSLA.

Company history

Tesla, Inc. was founded in 2003 by two American engineers, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. In 2004, entrepreneur Elon Musk became the company's largest shareholder, and has served as Tesla's CEO since 2008. The company started out by focusing on the development and manufacturing of electric sports cars, but later expanded into the electric vehicle market, as well as energy storage systems and solar products. It has been a favorite of retail stock investors who believe in the potential of the transition to clean energy, as well as those who admire the company’s often-controversial CEO Elon Musk.

Stock price history

The stock price of a company is determined by a range of factors, including its financial performance, industry trends and investor sentiment.

Tesla shares started trading on the stock market in June 2010 at $17 a share, while the stock was trading around $1,000 a decade later, which means its value increased by a multiple of around 59x. It peaked at an all-time high in November 2021, but the price has since decreased significantly amid a general decline in financial markets and Tesla losing some of its attractiveness since Musk acquired social media platform Twitter.

Nevertheless, with market capitalization of around $573 billion at the time of writing (February 2, 2023), Tesla was still the world’s seventh-largest company by value.

You can buy Tesla shares at any online brokerage that provides access to US stock markets. As US stock exchanges like the Nasdaq, where Tesla is traded, are highly popular global trading venues, you should not have any trouble finding a broker that best fits your personal needs.

Here are some examples of major online brokerage firms that offer the ability to buy and sell Tesla shares:

• Interactive Brokers
• TD Ameritrade
• Charles Schwab
• Merrill Edge
• Webull
• E*TRADE

There are many other good options as well, including commission-free brokers that do not charge any fee for stock purchases. Check out our Brokerage Fee Calculator to see where it is cheapest to buy Tesla shares. Commission-free brokers will be highlighted and listed at the top.

How to find the right broker to buy Tesla shares

BrokerChooser experts have analyzed more than 100 global brokerages in detail, to save you many hours of research. Just use our Find My Broker tool to easily find a broker that is available in your country which offers US stock trading and where you can buy Tesla shares.

It is important to note that different brokers may have different fees and requirements, so it is recommended to compare and choose a brokerage that best fits your investment needs. Use our Compare Brokers tool to see how various brokerage fees stack up against each other.

How to buy your first Tesla share

If buying Tesla will be your first stock trade ever, use our dedicated step-by-step guide to make the process a smooth and easy one. We'll help you start trading stocks on your own in no time!

As of February 2023, the number of outstanding shares of Tesla is approximately 3.16 billion, according to data from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. However, this number can change over time as a result of stock splits, stock buybacks, or the issuing of new shares.

Tesla stock's free float, which indicates the number of shares available for trading by the public, was approximately 2.69 billion shares as of February 2023. This is calculated by taking the number of outstanding shares and deducting any restricted stock, such as shares held by company insiders, which may not be publicly traded.

You can find the exact number of Tesla shares by searching for Tesla's ticker symbol (TSLA) on a financial website or by checking the company's latest filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

How many Tesla shares does Elon Musk have?

Elon Musk is Tesla’s largest individual shareholder with around 446 million shares, representing approximately 13.4% of the stock. Musk sold some 22 million of his shares in December 2022, but as of the time of writing, he remains Tesla's biggest shareholder.

Who owns the most shares of Tesla?

Elon Musk is the largest individual shareholder of Tesla, with an ownership stake of some 13.4% in the company. However, institutions such as Vanguard Group and BlackRock also hold substantial amounts of Tesla stock.

Overall, institutional investors account for around 43% of Tesla’s share ownership, with retail investors owning 42% and company executives holding 15%. Tesla has a total of 2,853 institutional shareholders, according to Nasdaq data. See the top five biggest institutonal investors in the table below.