Fully-charged Tesla takes investors on a wild drive

On a typical day, the electric-vehicle maker’s price swings are more than four times greater those of the S&P 500

Tesla CEO Elon Musk consulted other Twitter users on whether he should offload part of his stake in the carmaker. A majority of the 3.5m respondents voted yes. Picture: Britta Pedersen/Getty

There was a sense among Wall Street types a year ago that Tesla’s entrance into the S&P 500 Index would calm the shares. Sure, it would still have sporadic moments of Elon Musk-driven swings — up 5% Tuesday, down 5% Wednesday — but overall, it would behave more like a proper, staid member of the blue-blooded community it was joining. They were wrong.

In the 12 months since it was added to the index, Tesla’s stock has been every bit as volatile as it was in 2018 and 2019.