March 20, 2025 – A significant discrepancy of $1.4 billion has been uncovered on Tesla’s balance sheet, as reported by the Financial Times yesterday. Tesla has yet to respond to requests for comment.
According to the Financial Times’ analysis, a comparison between Tesla’s capital expenditures in the second half of 2024 and the valuation of the assets it invested in revealed a seemingly unaccounted-for $1.4 billion. This sum is substantial enough to weigh heavily on Tesla’s finances.
Tesla’s cash flow statement indicates that the company spent 6.3 billion on Property, Plant, and Equipment (PP&E) in the latter half of last year, whereas the actual increase in PP&E assets amounted to only 4.9 billion.
Luzi Hail, an accounting professor at the Wharton School, explained that in most cases, the reported figures do not always add up perfectly because we only see the net changes in these accounts without the visibility into all the detailed transactions occurring. “Perhaps they sold some PP&E, and we don’t know the book value [the corresponding total amount],” Hail speculated.
The Financial Times also flagged other red flags, such as Tesla’s claim of holding 37billionincashdespiteissuing6 billion in new debt last year. Although Tesla stated that it had $15 billion in operating cash flow, higher than its capital expenditures, it did not repurchase shares or pay dividends. This is highly unusual for a company of its size.
