Still, during Tesla's fourth-quarter earnings call on the evening of January 29, he sent a characteristically blunt message to those who doubted him along the way. "Very few people understand the value of self-driving and [Tesla's] ability to monetize the fleet.

Tesla Inc. fleshed out plans to launch a robotaxi business Elon Musk is counting on to help usher in next phase of growth, after the company posted quarterly earnings that missed estimates.

Tesla reported fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday afternoon, and investors looked past revenue and per-share profit misses to focus on news the company kept its goal to launch cheaper EVs in the first half of the year and vowed to have fully autonomous cars on the roads in Austin,