What If You Invested $1,000 in Tesla in 2015?

Worth Today

$24,134.06

+$23,134.06 profit24.1x

Invested

$1,000.00

CAGR

31.1%

Time Period

11.7 years

Return

+2,313%

A $1,000 investment in Tesla at the start of 2015 would be worth approximately $24,134.06 today — a 24.1x return representing a 31.1% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over 11.7 years.

Try your own numbers

If I had putintoat the start of…

it would be worth today

$24,134

+$23,134 profit24.1x31.1% a year

The same $1,000 in an S&P 500 index fund: $4,564

Aftertax on the gain, you’d keep$20,664

US federal long-term rates: 15% for most people, 0% on lower incomes, 20% + 3.8% on high incomes. No state tax included; none inside a Roth IRA.

Growth Over Time

Performance Metrics

Total Invested

$1,000.00

Current Value

$24,134.06

Total Profit

$23,134.06

Multiplier

24.1x

CAGR

31.1%

Max Drawdown

-73.0%

Inflation-Adjusted

$17,545.32

Benchmark Comparison

How does $1,000.00 invested in 2015 compare across different asset classes?

AssetValue TodayReturn
Tesla$24,134.0624.1x
S&P 500$4,563.574.56x
Gold$3,559.213.56x
Savings (2% APY)$1,261.861.26x

Dividends

Tesla paid no dividends over this period, so the whole return came from its share price.

Dividends from Yahoo Finance. Shares today assume every dividend was reinvested.

Back in 2015

  • In April 2015, Tesla launched Tesla Energy and unveiled the Powerwall, a wall-mounted home battery priced from $3,000 that could store solar power for use overnight. techcrunch.com
  • In 2015, a gallon of gas averaged $2.43, a movie ticket averaged $8.43 and the new iPhone 6s started at $649 without a contract. eia.govfonearena.comthewrap.com
  • During 2015 itself, Tesla rose 1.8%, #41 of the 82 investments we track. The best was Netflix (+121%); the worst was Chipotle (−34%). Full 2015 results →

$1,000 in Tesla, year by year

Of the 82 investments we track that were available at the start of 2015, Tesla ranks #9 by growth to today, near the top — just behind Litecoin and ahead of Eli Lilly. See the full 2015 ranking →

Tesla started 2015 at its highest start-of-year price up to then, after rising 46% in 2014. It was worth less than the $1,000 put in at the start of 2017, and has been above it since the start of 2018. Its best January was 2026, at $29,964. Today it's 19% below that, so selling then would have beaten holding. It rose in 8 of the 11 full years since. It moved ahead of the same $1,000 in the S&P 500 at the start of 2018 and has stayed ahead since. Month by month, the deepest fall ran from Nov 2021 ($25,982) to Dec 2022 ($8,387), a drop of 68%. At its lowest month-end, in May 2019, it was worth $840.49.

WhenWorthChangeS&P 500
Start of 2015$1,000—$1,000
Start of 2016$1,018+1.8%$1,014
Start of 2017$990−2.8%$1,135
Start of 2018$1,462+48%$1,383
Start of 2019$1,414−3.3%$1,322
Start of 2020$1,962+39%$1,739
Start of 2021$16,621+747%$2,058
Start of 2022$27,360+65%$2,649
Start of 2023$7,394−73%$2,170
Start of 2024$16,992+130%$2,740
Start of 2025$25,893+52%$3,425
Start of 2026$29,964+16%$4,038
Today$24,134−19%$4,564

Values at the start of each year (first trading day for stocks). The S&P 500 column includes reinvested dividends, like the stock values.

Historical Context

At the start of 2015, Tesla was priced at $14.62 (adjusted for later splits and dividends). $1,000 would have bought about 68.40 shares. Tesla makes electric vehicles, batteries and energy-storage systems. It went public on the Nasdaq in June 2010.

Measured from one January to the next, Tesla's best year since then was 2020 (+747%) and its worst was 2022 (−73%). Holding on wasn't easy: between the start of 2022 and the start of 2023, the position fell 73% from its high.

Frequently Asked Questions

A $1,000 investment in Tesla at the start of 2015 would be worth approximately $24,134.06 today — a 24.1x return ($23,134.06 profit) over 11.7 years.

Methodology & Sources

Price data: Historical prices are the closing price on the first trading day of each year, adjusted for splits and dividends (so returns assume dividends were reinvested), from Yahoo Finance and MacroTrends. Current prices come from Yahoo Finance and refresh hourly; if that source is unavailable, the last saved price is used.

Calculation: Assumes a single purchase at the start of 2015 (or the first trading day, for companies that listed that year), held until today. No transaction fees, taxes, or slippage are included.

Benchmarks: The S&P 500 comparison uses the S&P 500 Total Return index (dividends reinvested, like an index fund) at the start of2015 and today. Gold uses the price per troy ounce. Savings account assumes a 2% APY compounded annually.

Inflation adjustment: Uses U.S. CPI-U annual averages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2026 CPI value is estimated.

Educational purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Not financial advice.

Other investments from 2015

See how every stock and crypto ranked since 2015 →

$1,000 in Tesla, by year

$1,000 in Tesla:1 year ago5 years ago10 years ago

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