Tesla is a US electric vehicle (EV) and renewable energy company that specialises in the design and manufacturing of electric cars, energy generation, and energy storage. It was founded in 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, with headquarters in Palo Alto, California, as well as Austin, Texas, where its primary Gigafactory is located. The company’s name is a homage to Nikola Tesla, best known for inventing the first alternating-current (AC) motor and the rotating magnetic field, which are still vital parts of the modern-day electricity system. In 2004, South African entrepreneur Elon Musk became the largest shareholder in TSLA stock with an investment of $6.5m. Musk was already known by then as the founder of digital bank X.com, which merged with Confinity to form the international payments company, PayPal. Musk went on to become Chairman of the company and later Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2008. He was also added as a co-founder in a lawsuit filed in 2009.