Elon Musk has long been credited with turning Tesla into a beacon of innovation, the visionary who pushed the world into an era of electrification. But

The five largest companies -- Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, and Alphabet -- were worth nearly $15 trillion when Musk first said Tesla could surpass their combined market values. The implied 17-fold return from its current market value of $879 billion means $50,000 invested in Tesla stock today could be worth $850,000 in the future.

"This is absolutely false (and this was communicated to the media before the report was published). The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead," Denholm's statement said.