{
  "id": 14765962,
  "title": "People who paid $50K to reserve a Roadster would have made bank investing that in Tesla stock instead",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/people-who-paid-50k-to-reserve-a-roadster-would-have-made-bank",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-15T18:35:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-roadster-reservation-50k-value-stock-investment-2026-10"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Tesla's Roadster reservation holders could have made a significant profit had they invested their $50,000 reservation fee in Tesla stock instead of purchasing an electric vehicle. Tesla first announced plans to revive the high-performance Roadster in 2017, with reservations costing $50,000. The company's stock has experienced substantial growth since the announcement, while the Roadster remained in development for nearly nine years. To determine the potential earnings from investing in Tesla stock instead of the Roadster, we performed some calculations. In November 2017, Tesla's stock closed at approximately $21 per share. As of mid-October 2026, the stock price was around $360. Therefore, a $50,000 investment made in 2017 would now be worth between $850,000 and $900,000, resulting in a gain of over $800,000 before taxes and trading fees. If an investor had purchased the full $250,000 Founders Series Roadster, their stock would now be valued at roughly $4.3 million, representing a gain of about $4 million. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the second-generation Roadster's revival after a nine-year wait, and it is set to be unveiled on Thursday. Musk has expressed gratitude towards the reservation holders for their patience while focusing on other Tesla priorities, such as autonomy and robotics. Some high-profile individuals, like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and YouTuber Marques Brownlee, have canceled their reservations due to the lengthy wait and lack of progress on the Roadster. Tesla's CEO teased the event, stating that the reveal would be a \"candidate for greatest product demo of all time.\"",
  "summary": "Tesla is re-revealing the Roadster, nine years after reservation holders forked over $50,000. Here's what an investment in TSLA would have yielded.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": "https://urgent.news/ill/14765962.png",
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CNBC World",
        "title": "Tesla plans next-generation Roadster reveal after almost a decade of delays",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/tesla-plans-next-generation-roadster-reveal-after-almost-a-decade-of",
        "published": "2026-10-15T18:19:35.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}