Tesla Becomes First U.S. Auto IPO Since Ford

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Circa 1948 Tucker stock certificates are worth more as a collectors' item than they were as company shares. Eight years after Tucker, Ford's public offering became the largest ever. As for Musk, he might not be a modern Henry Ford, but he sure is green.

Ford's 1956 public offering:10.2 million shares.

Issued at:$63 per share to underwriters.

Sold to public for:$64.50 per share.

Total raised:$642.6 million.

Adjusted for inflation:$5.178 billion

Brands:Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Continental.

1956 global sales:2,565,874.

Ford family's special payoff:Class B stock with majority voting

status.

Ford was in business for 53 years, owned lots of physical property, and had high-volume production rolling out of its factories. By the time of its public offering, it was shedding unprofitable businesses, including its own part suppliers and the nascent Continental brand.

Tesla's 2010 public offering:13.3 million shares.

Issued at:$17 per share.

End of first day trading price:$23.89.

Total raised:$226.1million.

Model:Roadster. (Model S by 2012. )

Tesla's total global production:About 1200 since 2008.

What Elon Musk got:About $20 million of the $226 million in stock.

Tesla has about $180 million to invest in Model S production, after brokers' fees and Musk's share, notes AutoTrends analyst Joe Phillippi. The entire $226 million would pay for a high-volume car's mild face lift, says 2953 Analytics' Jim Hall, though tooling for the 50,000-unit Model S is cheaper than tooling for a 250,000 per-year car. Tesla's $465 million in government loans could fund the tooling in Tesla's newly acquired NUMMI plant, but it also needs to fund dealership establishment, warranty fulfillment and the Model S' validations.

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