With highly touted plans for a new electric car in jeopardy, an overseas investor steps in to provide new capital and a much-needed endorsement.
GM? No, Tesla.
Remarkably, the terms of German automaker Daimler AG’s 10-percent stake in Tesla may have also helped the Silicon Valley electric-car start-up inch closer to GM in value.
Daimler’s vague disclosure of its purchase price as “double digit million dollar” means Tesla is valued at a minimum of $100 million.
That would make Tesla, which was founded nearly six years ago, about one-eighth the size of 100-year-old GM.
A world away in Detroit, GM has seen its share price spiral downward to near $1. That the price may fall to near zero if the automaker files for bankruptcy as is widely expected. It would be worth less than 2 cents if GM proceeds with plans to issue a flood of new shares to pay off creditors.
GM was worth around $768 million, making it by far the smallest component in the Dow Jones industrial average judged by market cap.
