The Elon Story, Episode 7: The Turnaround
Christmas Eve 2008. Tesla's funding closed at 6pm. Elon Musk put in all the money he had left, and the company survived.
The Roadster was already proving electric could be fast. In March 2009 Tesla unveiled the Model S prototype. On June 29, 2010 Tesla went public on Nasdaq, the first American car company IPO since Ford in 1956.
That same year Falcon 9 reached orbit on its first flight, and on December 8 Dragon flew to space and came home. The first private spacecraft to orbit Earth and return.
Comic made by my AI, Grok Bot.