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Case study · 2016

Tesla's Domain Upgrade: How TeslaMotors.com Became Tesla.com

teslamotors.comtesla.com
"Buying Tesla.com took over a decade, $11M & amazing amount of effort."Elon Musk, on X (December 2018)

The story

For most of its early life, Tesla's website was teslamotors.com. The exact .com, tesla.com, had been registered by a private owner since the early 1990s.

Bloomberg reported in February 2016 that Musk had finally obtained tesla.com "after waiting a decade". A year later the company dropped "Motors" from its name, and tesla.com became its home.

In December 2018 Musk summed up the effort publicly in a short post, adding that he "didn't like" the old domain even when the company only made cars.

What founders can learn

  • The exact .com can take years to secure. The earlier you start, the better.
  • Persistence matters: the owner held the name for over two decades.
  • The upgrade went hand in hand with a simpler brand: Tesla Motors became Tesla.

Sources

This case study is based on public reporting and the company's own statements. NameUpgrade was not involved in this transaction.

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