• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Tech

Musk Finds Humor in Tesla’s $420 Stock Getting ‘So High’

By
Catherine Larkin
Catherine Larkin
,
Dana Hull
and
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 23, 2019, 3:39 PM ET

Elon Musk is getting a laugh out of a 503-day-old marijuana joke that securities regulators didn’t find so funny.

Tesla climbed above $420 for the first time Monday as fresh financing arranged from banks in China added to optimism supporting a months-long rally. Musk, who was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last year for falsely tweeting he had funding to take the company private at that price, cracked a joke about the milestone on his favorite social-media platform.

Tesla advanced as much as 4% to $422.01, rising a fourth consecutive day. The electric-car maker is said to have lined up more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in financing from local banks for its Shanghai factory as it prepares to begin deliveries of China-made Model 3 sedans in the country. An announcement will probably be made as soon as this week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The SEC said in September 2018 that Musk picked $420 as the price at which Tesla would go private to make a weed joke that would impress his girlfriend. In cannabis culture, April 20, or 4/20, is celebrated as a day for smoking marijuana.

Musk and Tesla each agreed to pay $20 million penalties as part of a settlement that barred him from serving as chairman for three years. The company also added new independent directors to its board and was required to hire or designate a securities lawyer to pre-approve certain social-media posts by its billionaire co-founder.

Tesla shares have now surged about 66% since reporting a surprise profit on Oct. 23. In addition to starting sales of locally built Model 3s in China soon, the company has accelerated the introduction of its newest model, the Model Y crossover, to the summer of next year, rather than the fall.

“We find it is extremely difficult for bulls and bears alike to conceive of an event path that interrupts the recent string of positive momentum,” Adam Jonas, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in a note.

Jonas, who rates Tesla the equivalent of a hold, reiterated that Tesla shares could be worth $500 in a bull-case scenario, which would give the company a roughly $100 billion valuation. It now has a market capitalization of about $76 billion.

More must-read stories from Fortune:

—7 companies founded in the last 10 years that you now can’t live without
—Electronic health records are creating a ‘new era’ of health care fraud
—2020 Crystal Ball: Predictions for the economy, politics, technology, etc.
—Can tech save the air travel industry from its delay problem?
—How to make sure your in-flight Wi-Fi isn’t terrible
Catch up with Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily digest on the business of tech.

About the Authors
By Catherine Larkin
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Dana Hull
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Bloomberg
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

Latest in Tech

Kiara Nirghin, the co-founder and CTO of the applied AI lab Chima
AIBrainstorm AI
Gen Z founder on ‘AI anxiety’ and being pigeonholed as generation shortcut: that’s the ‘biggest misconception’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 25, 2025
1 hour ago
Panos Panay, Senior Vice President, Devices and Services, Amazon
AIBrainstorm AI
Amazon’s Alexa chief predicts an end to doom scrolling: the next generation is ‘going to just think differently’
By Nick LichtenbergDecember 25, 2025
2 hours ago
Prakhar Mehrotra smiles as he sits in a yellow chair onstage with "Fortune" on the background screen.
AIFintech
The real AI revolution is going from the information era to the ‘intelligence era,’ Paypal senior VP says. That means your focus should be tokens
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 25, 2025
4 hours ago
InvestingFinance
Goldman Sachs expects layoffs to keep rising—and says investors are punishing the stocks of companies that slash staff
By Lee CliffordDecember 25, 2025
5 hours ago
AIBrainstorm AI
Cursor CEO warns vibe coding builds ‘shaky foundations’ and eventually ‘things start to crumble’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezDecember 25, 2025
6 hours ago
Big TechTesla
Tesla faces NHTSA probe over Model 3 emergency door handles
By Dana Hull and BloombergDecember 24, 2025
20 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Trump turns government into giant debt collector with threat to garnish wages on millions of Americans in default on student loans
By Annie Ma and The Associated PressDecember 24, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Retail
Trump just declared Christmas Eve a national holiday. Here’s what’s open and closed
By Dave SmithDecember 24, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Chinese billionaire who has fathered more than 100 children hopes to have dozens of U.S.-born boys to one day take over his business
By Emma BurleighDecember 25, 2025
3 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Obama's former top economic advisor says he feels 'a tiny bit bad' for Trump because gas prices are low, but consumer confidence is still plummeting 
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 24, 2025
22 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Billionaire philanthropy's growing divide: Mark Zuckerberg stops funding immigration reform as MacKenzie Scott doubles down on DEI
By Ashley LutzDecember 22, 2025
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Financial experts warn future winner of the $1.7 billion Powerball: Don't make these common money mistakes
By Ashley LutzDecember 23, 2025
2 days ago

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.