Ask almost anyone who started Tesla and they’ll probably say Elon Musk. That’s what he wants you to believe. But the truth is he didn’t start it. He just made sure everyone thinks he did.
Tesla was actually created back in 2003 by two engineers named Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. They had the idea. They built the company. They filed the paperwork. Elon Musk didn’t come along until later, when he put in money during the first big investment round in early 2004.
Yes, he wrote a check. And yes, he got a seat at the table. But being an early investor is not the same thing as being a founder. It’s like joining a band after the first album and claiming you started it. That might work if you’re loud enough, and in this case, Musk definitely was.
He became chairman, and later CEO, but the title of co-founder didn’t show up until years later. There was a lawsuit in 2009 between Musk and Eberhard that got pretty ugly. As part of the settlement, Musk was officially allowed to call himself a co-founder. Not because he was one, but because both sides agreed to let it go that way.
That legal move changed the story. Musk ran with it, and before long, people forgot who actually started Tesla. Reporters stopped checking. Journalists repeated the claim. It became the accepted version of history.
This kind of thing might seem small, but it’s not. When someone with money and power can rewrite how a company began just by repeating something enough, that should bother you. Founding a company isn’t just a title. It’s about who took the first real risk and laid the first bricks.
To be fair, Musk did plenty to make Tesla what it is now. He pushed the cars, built the hype, and took the company to massive heights. None of that is in question. What is in question is why he couldn’t just own the truth and say he joined later.
And if you say this out loud, there’s a good chance he might notice. So Elon, if you’re reading this, here it is straight. You didn’t start Tesla. But you turned it into something huge. That’s not nothing. But it’s not the same thing either.
Let’s keep the history honest.
By the way:
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