On April 24 this reporter posted an article titled “How much was Elon Musk’s pledge to step back from DOGE worth? $67 billion to frustrated shareholders.” Two days earlier, on Tesla’s Q1 conference call held after the close of trading, Musk promised that, in a matter of months, he would be “allocating far more time to Tesla.” When the NYSE bell rang at 4 PM on April 24, the EV maker’s shares had jumped by over 9% to hit $260, lifting its market cap by $68 billion. The stirring vote of confidence that Musk’s pending return will recharge Tesla’s flagging stock inspired my story.
As it turned out, the $68 billion surge proved a modest first installment on what folks and funds are wagering getting Musk back on-site at Tesla’s design centers, and onto the gigafactory floors from Austin to Shanghai, means for its future. On April 25, the day after my story appeared, the stock jumped another 10% to $285, nearly 20% above the $238 level preceding the CEO’s declaration. All told, the “The rebound from DOGE” news—coupled with renewed Musk's assurances he'll launch an inexpensive new Model Y this year, and get robotaxis rolling in 2026—has lifted Tesla’s valuation by $158 billion to $918 billion. That three-day explosion added more than the current market caps of Amgen, Caterpillar, Adobe, and all but around 45 other U.S. companies.
