Investor's Corner
Elon Musk stands his ground against SEC as Tesla heads towards historic Q3
Tesla was rocked on Thursday after news emerged that the SEC has filed a lawsuit against CEO Elon Musk over his tweets last August stating that he was considering taking the company private at $420 per share, and that he had “funding secured.” As Tesla feels the fallout resulting from the SEC’s lawsuit, details of the commissions’ filing, including a failed settlement with Musk and his legal team, are coming to light.
It should be noted that Elon Musk himself is the only entity named in the SEC lawsuit, not Tesla as a company. No criminal charges against Musk have been put forward as well. Nevertheless, several of the company’s skeptics have welcomed the news. Former GM executive Bob Lutz, for one, who recently claimed that Tesla is “headed for the graveyard” since it has “no tech advantage, no software advantage, and no battery advantage” against established automakers, noted in an email to the Los Angeles Times that Musk is “toast.” The steep 9.9% drop during after-hours trading also weighed down on Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA) heavily, ironically dealing damage to the company’s investors.
A report published by the Wall Street Journal outlines a rather unique set of events that led up to the SEC’s decision to file a suit against Elon Musk. According to individuals reportedly familiar with the matter, the SEC had actually crafted a settlement for Elon Musk that was approved by the agency’s commissioners. Musk’s legal team reportedly called SEC’s lawyers in San Francisco on Thursday, stating that they were no longer interested in proceeding with the settlement. With this, the SEC reportedly rushed to craft a complaint against Musk, which was filed later during the day.
The reasons behind Elon Musk’s decision to walk away from a settlement with the SEC are yet to be revealed, but by doing so, Musk has taken on what could very well be his most dangerous legal battle to date. The SEC, after all, is not only demanding that Musk pay civil penalties; the commission is also demanding that he be prohibited from acting as an officer or director of a publicly-traded company. Musk, for his part, gave a brief statement to CNBC regarding the SEC’s lawsuit against him.
“This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency, and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life, and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way,” Musk said.
Tesla’s Board of Directors has issued a statement expressing its full support for Elon Musk. The board’s statement, while brief, emphasized that apart from standing behind the beleaguered CEO, Tesla is focused on its fundamentals, particularly the ongoing Model 3 production ramp. Following is the Telsa Board of Directors’ statement about the SEC filing.
“Tesla and the board of directors are fully confident in Elon, his integrity, and his leadership of the company, which has resulted in the most successful U.S. auto company in over a century. Our focus remains on the continued ramp of Model 3 production and delivering for our customers, shareholders, and employees.”
Considering that he opted to walk away from a settlement with the SEC, it appears that Elon Musk is once more choosing to pursue a more difficult path forward. Such tendencies are classic Elon Musk, though past announcements from the CEO do suggest that he foresaw adverse developments coming in Tesla’s direction. In a letter to the company’s employees earlier this month, for example, Musk urged employees to stand firm and focus on meeting its ambitious and self-imposed targets.
One of Tesla’s electric car assembly lines at its Fremont, CA factory.
“We are about to have the most amazing quarter in our history, building and delivering more than twice as many cars as we did last quarter. For a while, there will be a lot of fuss and noise in the media. Just ignore them. Results are what matter and we are creating the most mind-blowing growth in the history of the automotive industry,” Musk wrote.
Elon Musk’s statement in his letter to employees does not seem to be an exaggeration. In true Tesla fashion, the company is now in the process of delivering as many of its electric cars to as many reservation holders as possible. The Model 3 production ramp, which seems to have hit its stride since Tesla managed to hit its goal of producing 5,000 units per week at the end of Q2, appears to be going strong as well. Deliveries have also increased to the point where some owners of the company’s electric cars have volunteered to help out Tesla’s delivery centers by orienting new owners with the features and functions of their vehicles.
Tesla is aiming to produce and deliver more than 50,000 Model 3 this quarter. While such a number is ambitious, even longtime skeptics of the company such as Goldman Sachs analyst David Tamberrino have noted that Tesla’s production and delivery figures for Q3 2018 would likely be within the company’s target. Tesla board member Kimbal Musk also pointed out in a CNBC Closing Bell segment that “it’s really gonna blow people’s minds how many Model 3s are gonna appear in America in just the next couple of weeks.”
Investor's Corner
Tesla gets tip of the hat from major Wall Street firm on self-driving prowess
“Tesla is at the forefront of autonomous driving, supported by a camera-only approach that is technically harder but much cheaper than the multi-sensor systems widely used in the industry. This strategy should allow Tesla to scale more profitably compared to Robotaxi competitors, helped by a growing data engine from its existing fleet,” BoA wrote.
Tesla received a tip of the hat from major Wall Street firm Bank of America on Wednesday, as it reinitiated coverage on Tesla shares with a bullish stance that comes with a ‘Buy’ rating and a $460 price target.
In a new note that marks a sharp reversal from its neutral position earlier in 2025, the bank declared Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology the “leading consumer autonomy solution.”
Analysts highlighted Tesla’s camera-only architecture, known as Tesla Vision, as a strategic masterstroke. While technically more challenging than the multi-sensor setups favored by rivals, the vision-based approach is dramatically cheaper to produce and maintain.
This cost edge, combined with Tesla’s rapidly expanding real-world data engine, positions the company to scale robotaxis far more profitably than competitors, BofA argues in the new note:
“Tesla is at the forefront of autonomous driving, supported by a camera-only approach that is technically harder but much cheaper than the multi-sensor systems widely used in the industry. This strategy should allow Tesla to scale more profitably compared to Robotaxi competitors, helped by a growing data engine from its existing fleet.”
The bank now attributes roughly 52% of Tesla’s total valuation to its Robotaxi ambitions. It also flagged meaningful upside from the Optimus humanoid robot program and the fast-growing energy storage business, suggesting the auto segment’s recent headwinds, including expired incentives, are being eclipsed by these higher-margin opportunities.
Tesla’s own data underscores exactly why Wall Street is waking up to FSD’s potential. According to Tesla’s official safety reporting page, the FSD Supervised fleet has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles driven.
Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
That total ballooned from just 6 million miles in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and a staggering 4.25 billion in 2025 alone. In the first 50 days of 2026, owners added another 1 billion miles — averaging more than 20 million miles per day.
This avalanche of real-world, camera-captured footage, much of it on complex city streets, gives Tesla an unmatched training dataset. Every mile feeds its neural networks, accelerating improvement cycles that lidar-dependent rivals simply cannot match at scale.
Tesla owners themselves will tell you the suite gets better with every release, bringing new features and improvements to its self-driving project.
The $460 target implies roughly 15 percent upside from recent trading levels around $400. While regulatory and safety hurdles remain, BofA’s endorsement signals growing institutional conviction that Tesla’s data advantage is not hype; it’s a tangible moat already delivering billions of miles of proof.
Elon Musk
SpaceX IPO could push Elon Musk’s net worth past $1 trillion: Polymarket
The estimates were shared by the official Polymarket Money account on social media platform X.
Recent projections have outlined how a potential $1.75 trillion SpaceX IPO could generate historic returns for early investors. The projections suggest the offering would not only become the largest IPO in history but could also result in unprecedented windfalls for some of the company’s key investors.
The estimates were shared by the official Polymarket Money account on social media platform X.
As noted in a Polymarket Money analysis, Elon Musk invested $100 million into SpaceX in 2002 and currently owns approximately 42% of the company. At a $1.75 trillion valuation following SpaceX’s potential $1.75 trillion IPO, that stake would be worth roughly $735 billion.
Such a figure would dramatically expand Musk’s net worth. When combined with his holdings in Tesla Inc. and other ventures, a public debut at that level could position him as the world’s first trillionaire, depending on market conditions at the time of listing.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index currently lists Elon Musk with a net worth of $666 billion, though a notable portion of this is tied to his TSLA stock. Tesla currently holds a market cap of $1.51 trillion, and Elon Musk’s currently holds about 13% to 15% of the company’s outstanding common stock.
Founders Fund, co-founded by Peter Thiel, invested $20 million in SpaceX in 2008. Polymarket Money estimates the firm owns between 1.5% and 3% of the private space company. At a $1.75 trillion valuation, that range would translate to approximately $26.25 billion to $52.5 billion in value.
That return would represent one of the most significant venture capital outcomes in modern Silicon Valley history, with a growth of 131,150% to 262,400%.
Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, invested $900 million into SpaceX in 2015 and is estimated to hold between 6% and 7% of the private space firm. At the projected IPO valuation, that stake could be worth between $105 billion and $122.5 billion. That’s a growth of 11,566% to 14,455%.
Other major backers highlighted in the post include Fidelity Investments, Baillie Gifford, Valor Equity Partners, Bank of America, and Andreessen Horowitz, each potentially sitting on multibillion-dollar gains.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk hints Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet,” Musk said.
Elon Musk recently hinted that he believes Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily if they continue to hold onto their shares, and he reiterated that in a new interview that the company released on its social accounts this week.
Musk is one of the most successful CEOs in the modern era and has mammothed competitors on the Forbes Net Worth List over the past year as his holdings in his various companies have continued to swell.
Tesla investors, especially those who have been holding shares for several years, have also felt substantial gains in their portfolios. Over the past five years, the stock is up over 78 percent. Since February 2019, nearly seven years ago to the day, the stock is up over 1,800 percent.
Musk said in the interview:
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.”
Elon Musk in new interview: “Hold on to your $TSLA stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.” pic.twitter.com/cucirBuhq0
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 26, 2026
It’s no secret Musk has been extremely bullish on his own companies, but Tesla in particular, because it is publicly traded.
However, the company has so many amazing projects that have an opportunity to revolutionize their respective industries. There is certainly a path to major growth on Wall Street for Tesla through its various future projects, including Optimus, Cybercab, Semi, and Unsupervised FSD.
- Optimus (Tesla’s humanoid robot): Musk has discussed its potential for tasks like childcare, walking dogs, or assisting elderly parents, positioning it as a massive long-term driver of company value.
- Cybercab (Tesla’s robotaxi/autonomous ride-hailing vehicle): a fully autonomous vehicle geared specifically for Tesla’s ride-sharing ambitions.
- Semi (Tesla’s electric truck, with mentions of expansion, like in Europe): brings Tesla into the commercial logistics sector.
- Unsupervised FSD (Full Self-Driving software achieving full autonomy without human supervision): turns every Tesla owner’s vehicle into a fully-autonomous vehicle upon release
These projects specifically are some of the highest-growth pillars Tesla has ever attempted to develop, especially in Musk’s eyes, as he has said Optimus will be the best-selling product of all-time.
Many analysts agree, but the bullish ones, like Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, are perhaps the one who believes Tesla has incredible potential on Wall Street, predicting a $2,600 price target for 2030, but this is not even including Optimus.
She told Bloomberg last March that she believes that the project will present a potential additive if Tesla can scale faster than anticipated.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.2.5 might be the most confusing release ever
Tesla gets tip of the hat from major Wall Street firm on self-driving prowess
