Shares in Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) are finally positive again for the year, after the company’s stock price closed up nearly 3% yesterday to $410.04. The company’s stock price is up another point today as of the time of this writing to just above $415—marking its highest point for the year since late January, when the electric vehicle maker’s stock began crashing. The company’s stock price was trading below $400 on the first trading day of 2025.
However, while Tesla’s stock price is back in the black this year, its latest rise doesn’t have anything to do with the company’s fundamentals. Instead, it has to do with the actions of Elon Musk himself. Here’s what you need to know about TSLA’s recent return to growth.
Musk announces he bought $1 billion in TSLA shares
On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the previous Friday, his family foundation purchased 2.57 million shares in TSLA in various tranches throughout the day, reports CNBC. The total value of the TSLA shares Musk purchased totaled about $1 billion.
Following the news of Musk’s Friday share purchase, on Monday, TSLA stock rose, and it is again up today. The main reason for this is that investors see Musk’s family foundation’s purchase as a vote of confidence in the beleaguered EV maker. If Musk is buying shares in the company, many are likely to argue that he believes their value will increase, which causes other investors to buy into the stock, too.
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But investors also seem to be taking Musk’s purchase of $1 billion worth of Tesla shares as a sign that Musk will also be devoting more time to the company. Throughout 2025, Musk’s attention has been diverted to his government and political antics. The Tesla CEO spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during the first half of 2025—and continues to be an outspoken critic of progressive and liberal politics in the United States and Europe.
Musk’s political antics have alarmed Tesla investors, who think his politics are distracting him from running his company. The Tesla CEO’s controversial involvement in politics has also served to alienate many of Tesla’s more liberal customer base—one of the factors leading to declining Tesla sales in the United States and abroad throughout much of 2025.
With Musk’s $1 billion Tesla share purpose, many investors are hoping it signifies the CEO will redouble his focus on the company and away from alienation politics. Whether that happens, however, remains to be seen.
TSLA’s chaotic 2025
Tesla shares began trading for the year just below $400 per share. They rose to above $428 by mid-January. But as Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration deepened and protests broke out at Tesla dealerships around the world, Tesla’s stock took a hit.
President Trump’s Libaeration Day tariffs, announced in April, didn’t do TSLA shares any favor either. That month, TSLA shares bottomed out below $220. Since then, however, Tesla’s stock has made a slow, cautious comeback, despite many hurdles for the company remaining, including increased competition from China’s BYD and a slow robotaxi rollout.
However, as of yesterday, TSLA shares are now up more than 85% from their April lows—and are finally positive for the year.
Before Friday’s roughly $1 billion TSLA share purchase, CNBC notes that Elon Musk last bought TSLA shares in 2020, when he purchased around 200,000 shares that were then worth about $10 million.
And in the future, Elon Musk could own even more shares of Tesla. The company has recently introduced a proposed pay package for Musk worth nearly $1 trillion, which would see the CEO get millions more shares in the company should Tesla, under his leadership, meet certain goals. This deal, if approved by shareholders, could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.