This guy has been propped up by government subsidies for 15 years, and still doesn’t have a profitable company. According to an LA Times article in 2015, Tesla was riding on $ 4.9 Billion in government subsidy already then.
He had a window of opportunity in the electric car market, but everyone else is catching up. If Tesla loses it’s aura as a ‘visionary’ company, they will fall by the wayside. It’s astounding to me that Tesla stock ever hit $300/share. Over 58% of the holders of Tesla stock are institutions, and they will be the ones to get away unscathed if everything plummets. They are also likely the ones who have been pushing for continued subsidies of Tesla and encouraging glowing market reviews of the stock.
Tesla has dominated the large luxury car market for years, and they rate at the top in customer satisfaction, too.
If Musk were happy with that, Tesla would be a nice little profitable company. But he’s a big risk taker and he does have a big vision. He’s been investing in the expansion of the company and new products. That’s why they aren’t profitable yet.