Elon Musk has told Tesla shareholders that his humanoid robot, Optimus, could increase the value of the company from $580 billion today to $25 trillion at some point in the future – that’s a 43 times increase. At the event, Musk referred to himself as being “pathologically optimistic”, according to CNBC.
Speaking at the event, Musk told shareholders that one day, Optimus robots will perform like C-3PO from Star Wars and be capable of doing a whole range of tasks such as cleaning, cooking, being a teacher for children, and most importantly, doing factory work such as helping in the construction of new Teslas.
Musk said that Tesla would begin the limited production of Optimus next year and trial them inside Tesla factories. If they are anything like Starship, there are sure to be hiccups along the way as various issues are troubleshot.
It’s worth noting that Musk’s idea of having Optimus bots boosting the value of the company so dramatically is a bit fantastical at this stage and a bit out there. Notably, Musk didn’t even give a time frame of when he thinks the company will be worth $25 trillion and there are also those comments about him being pathologically optimistic suggesting even he thinks this goal could be too ambitious.
CNBC points out that the S&P 500’s total worth right now is $45.5 trillion and if Musk managed to achieve his optimistic target, it would be worth more than half the current value of the S&P 500.
In a goal a bit closer, but still quite optimistic, the growth investor Cathie Wood who heads the Ark funds believes that Tesla will be able to start a robotaxi business that would boost the share price from $179 today to $2,600 by 2029.
With the higher interest rates that have been brought about to tackle inflation, many of Cathie Wood’s bets gone south, mainly because the companies she focuses on are new and may not yet be profitable. Her ARK Innovation ETF was around $156 per share in 2021 when tech firms were benefitting from lockdowns but since then, the price has collapse to $43.
Time will tell if she’s right but even her $8 trillion market cap prediction for Tesla seems too optimistic, let alone Musk’s even grander target.
Source: CNBC