The struggles suffered by Tesla during the Model 3 production ramp are well known, but today we learned just how close CEO Elon Musk and Tesla was to losing it all.
Tesla began limited production of its electric sedan in mid-2017, with the first vehicles rolling off the assembly line in Fremont on July 7, 2017. In a series of tweets today, Musk revealed the automaker was “about a month” away from bankruptcy as it ramped up production into mid-2019.
Closest we got was about a month. The Model 3 ramp was extreme stress & pain for a long time — from mid 2017 to mid 2019. Production & logistics hell.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 3, 2020
The revelation comes 12 years after the automaker was within 3 days of bankruptcy in 2008. According to Musk, Tesla received a $40 million loan on Christmas eve at the “last hour of [the] last day possible” after investing all of his own money into the company, and even that of his friends.
That funding round completed 6pm on Christmas Eve in 2008. Last hour of last day possible, as investors were leaving town that night & we were 3 days away from bankruptcy. I put in all money I had, didn’t own a house & had to borrow money from friends to pay rent. Difficult time.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 3, 2020
I put in my last money, even though I thought we would still fail. But, it was either that or certain death for Tesla. Extremely difficult to raise money for an electric car startup (considered super quirky back then), while stalwarts like GM & Chrysler were going bankrupt.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 3, 2020
It turns out that investment was a wise one, as Tesla is now the most valuable automaker in the world, and Musk has a personal net worth of nearly $100 billion.
