TIL: Elon Musk wasn’t the founder of Tesla. Tesla’s real founders were Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

Musk was merely an early investor in the company. Who seemingly started out as he meant to go on.

From The Verge:

Musk was brought on as a crucial early investor but soon used his clout, money, and even a few strong-arm tactics to oust Eberhard and Tarpenning and eventually install himself as CEO of Tesla.

Eberhard ended up suing Musk for all manner of things: libel, defamation, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, and failure to pay his wages, The only reason Musk is even allowed to call himself the founder of Tesla is because he effectively purchased the right to do so as part of the legal settlement.