---
title: "Elon Musk Doesn’t Know Why Tesla Has Such a High Market Value"
description: "The eclectic CEO speaks his mind on recent claims."
date: "2017-05-18"
modified: "2017-05-19"
authors:
  - name: "Caleb Jacobs"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/caleb-jacobs"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/10430/elon-musk-doesnt-know-why-tesla-has-such-a-high-market-value"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "News"
  - "Tesla"
---

# Elon Musk Doesn’t Know Why Tesla Has Such a High Market Value

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/05/elon-musk-hero-image.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Tesla has received a lot of Wall Street attention over the last month. Investors have placed the California automaker above [Ford](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/9276/elon-musk-tells-angry-tesla-investors-to-buy-ford-stock>) and [GM](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/8918/tesla-is-now-worth-more-than-ford-if-you-believe-the-market>) in terms of [market capitalization](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/9322/tesla-stock-prices-leap-after-tease-of-self-driving-semi-and-pickup>), shocking the rest of the industry. Though skeptics doubt the plausibility of this assessment in real-world terms, Tesla seems to be riding past the doubt and carrying on with its business as planned. However, it turns out that even company [CEO and Founder Elon Musk](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/10233/tesla-boss-elon-musk-earned-99744920-last-year>) was surprised by the [market eval](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/9408/is-this-tesla-model-s-really-worth-539325>), stating in an interview with *The Guardian* that "We're a money-losing company".

In addition to that, Musk drew the difference between his company and that of GM, a company that produced millions more cars than Tesla did in 2016.

“I do believe this market cap is higher than we have any right to deserve," [Musk said to *The Guardian*](<https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-factory-workers-detail-grueling-conditions-fremont-2017-5?utm_source=bloomberg&utm_medium=ingest>). "This is not some situation where, for example, we are just greedy capitalists who decided to skimp on safety in order to have more profits and dividends and that kind of thing. It’s just a question of how much money we lose. And how do we survive? How do we not die and have everyone lose their jobs?”

That being said, Musk doesn't discredit the work ethic of his team. Tesla as a whole has been working to prep for the expected surge in production once the [Model 3 hits later this year](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/9289/tesla-model-3-be-revealed-in-final-form-in-july-elon-musk-says>), a project that should exponentially grow the company's manufacturing numbers.

Once the Model 3 is released, it seems likely that Tesla will either be made or be broken in terms of productivity. Musk is confident that the company will get through it, but not without some trial and error. Regardless of its success post-Model 3 debut, however, the automaker's influence on the rest of the car business is undeniable.

## Author
Caleb Jacobs is The Drive’s senior editor. When he’s not searching for stories or poring over copy, he’s usually driving his dump truck or wishing it was running so he could drive it. He was born and raised in the Missouri Ozarks, and he lives there today with his family.

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-jacobs-319323119>)  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/calebjwords>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/calebjacobs0611>)