In keeping with his promotional nature, Musk said there was a path by which Tesla could be worth more than the next top five companies by market cap combined. Tesla was the seventh largest company in the S&P 500 at year-end. This result seems very unlikely, in my view.

In many ways, these have been tough days for Tesla. Falling sales. Squeezed profit margins. Proposed changes in US government policy that could cost the company billions.