The REAL story of how Elon "stole" Tesla

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Discover the untold story of Tesla's origins and the controversy over Elon Musk's role as a founder. We dive into the early days with Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, the dramatic takeover by Musk, and the lawsuit that followed. Who are the true founders?
Watch and decide for yourself.
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Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_...
goodereader.com/blog/electron...
www.thestreet.com/technology/...
ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/progr...
www.wri.org/insights/countrie...
/ experience
www.calicolabs.com/people/art...
www.apple.com/leadership/
www.businessinsider.com/tesla...
www.businessinsider.com/tesla...
www.forbes.com/sites/alanohns...
/ elon_eberhard_is_by_fa...

[@slidebean]

So, is Elon a founder or not? Drop your thoughts below! 🍿 Now, if you're a founder yourself, let Caya and our team of experts help you master the art of fundraising. Discover Slidebean Accelerate! ► yt.slidebean.com/8s1

[@MammothBehemoth]

Well, isnt this exactly that movie The Founder with Michael Keaton. I guess if you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook Oh wait

[@Chris-ig9gz]

"Not a co-founder" camp. The popular "Ship of Theseus" debate of if someone helped provide important financial or strategic feedback early, influences decisions or drive ideas early in a companies life before a name becomes a name get credit for the companies success? By this logic should AC Propulsion be founders of Telsa? In short no. If AC Propulsion had taken Martin and Marc's advice, Martin and Marc would not and should not then become founders of AC Propulsion either. If they invest in AC Propulsion making the change from custom to mass produce EVs, they would have been important figures in its history but not co-founders. Re-incorporate AC Propulsion with a different name/legal agreement on who is founding the new company...then there is a solid debate. But that isn't what happened at Tesla. In building anything, there are a lot of small to large influences but they don't bring them all together. The leap from AC Propulsion custom EV cars to starting Telsa to mass produce EV cars is the same leap between Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founding Tesla and Elon's entrance into Telsa. Influence yes, co-founders no.

[@asfandyar424]

I believe Elon earned the co-founder title fair and square. And this is an opinion I have formed by not only reading the book “Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson”, but also your video and various other sources. I also want to add the fact that Walter Isaacson didn’t just write the book from Elon’s perspective, he interviewed every single one of the cofounders, and even key employees to form his opinions for the book. Elon was not only the biggest investor capital wise hence earning himself the position of chairman, he also put in a lot of sweat equity for example changing the car door latches to electric, which ended up becoming the symbol for Tesla getting them hundreds of thousands of more sales, he also designed the cars look with the help of his design engineer at SpaceX that was hired for Tesla named Franz von Holzhausen a French designer. He also worked on the dashboard of the car because it looked tacky. The seats were changed according to Elon’s design. The middle console with the huge table and the software it runs was also part Elon’s idea. In fact, the Lotis design was so bad that it couldn’t fit in the engine and the battery cells in a formation that made sense, that was all done by Elon and there’s much much more than that. So in conclusion just because I made an LLC and came up with the idea doesn’t make me a cofounder it’s the amount of capital and sweat that I put into it to make it successful is what makes me the cofounder. The original founders were incompetent of making it happen, which is why they were as good as old news and Elon came out on the winning end. You also need to keep in mind Elon understands the technology in a very technical way aside from being the biggest investor. He was a coder and physics major first, who was also acting as the Chief Rocket Propulsion Engineer for SpaceX at the time, who became the biggest investor in Tesla and not the other way around like the vast majority of investors. So he really knew his stuff before joining Tesla. After that as we all know the rest is history.

[@sanjaygupta666]

No, he wasn't a founder. Court judges don't redefine English language words.

[@asfandyar424]

I believe Elon earned the co-founder title fair and square. And this is an opinion I have formed by not only reading the book “Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson”, but also your video and various other sources. I also want to add the fact that Walter Isaacson didn’t just write the book from Elon’s perspective, he interviewed every single one of the cofounders, and even key employees to form his opinions for the book. Elon was not only the biggest investor capital wise hence earning himself the position of chairman, he also put in a lot of sweat equity for example changing the car door latches to electric, which ended up becoming the symbol for Tesla getting them hundreds of thousands of more sales, he also designed the cars look with the help of his design engineer at SpaceX that was hired for Tesla named Franz von Holzhausen a French designer. He also worked on the dashboard of the car because it looked tacky. The seats were changed according to Elon’s design. The middle console with the huge table and the software it runs was also part Elon’s idea. In fact, the Lotis design was so bad that it couldn’t fit in the engine and the battery cells in a formation that made sense, that was all done by Elon and there’s much much more than that. So in conclusion just because I made an LLC and came up with the idea doesn’t make me a cofounder it’s the amount of capital and sweat that I put into it to make it successful is what makes me the cofounder. The original founders were incompetent of making it happen, which is why they were as good as old news and Elon came out on the winning end. You also need to keep in mind Elon understands the technology in a very technical way aside from being the biggest investor. He was a coder and physics major first, who was also acting as the chief propulsion engineer for SpaceX at the time, who became the biggest investor in Tesla and not the other way around like the vast majority of investors. So he really knew his stuff before joining Tesla. After that as we all know the rest is history.

[@Vysair]

I thought everything already came to light widely after the Twitter buyout

[@SuperKillroy1]

@2:37. There is a bid difference between 10% EVs on the road and 10% of Sales. California did surpass 10% EV sales at one point. It will take a while to replace the fleet on the road with any powertrain.

[@mixmax6027]

You know who didn't forget? Sam with OpenAI. Elon got played on that and became poopypants

[@uromvictor]

There was a conflict of interest That's why he left.

[@phpn99]

Sam is another unsavoury, two-faced character

[@TheDancelow]

@@phpn99 He met his match. The battle of snake oil salesmen

[@skitzobunitostudios7427]

Yeah, Openai is the peak of success, theres nothing going on that would make one think it will implode soon under Sams leadership.... Hard to type Sarcasm

[@sanjaygupta666]

@@uromvictorlike the conflict of interest between xAI & Tesla. Hopefully he’ll not get his $56B & fuck off from Tesla for good

[@creditcardhelp8824]

Apple ceo is Tim Apple lol!! 10:37

[@CC-kg6vs]

Let him cook

[@australianman8566]

it was a reference to what Donald Trump said when they met during his presidency

[@Entertainment-]

Credit Creditcardhelp is new to memes I see

[@Wiizl]

@@CC-kg6vs Let Tim Cook

[@aothman979]

A co-founder is an individual who has his name as a shareholder in an LLC on the day on which the company’s Articles of Association were submitted to the Registrar. Or a shareholder and a Board of Directors member anywhere before the breakeven point as agreed by the other founders.

[@archigoel]

if u want to be technical, then Court has ruled on it, and that's end of discussion. And if u want to be moral, than this is not even a question, Tesla was a paper incorporation before Musk.

[@StinkPickle4000]

​@@archigoel going out of your way to further Musk's wish to be founder of a company he did not found?

[@deeptoot1453]

As per your second definition Elon thus is a founder?

[@archigoel]

@@StinkPickle4000 you are going out of your way to to say Musk isnt a founder. According to silicon valley practise, he is, according to the court ruling, he is.

[@StinkPickle4000]

@@archigoel Nice try but nope. Musk persued legal remedies so he could claim to be founder and activated his cult to re-write history. Doesn't mean he started the company.

[@tobisalami]

I like how after you said "money wins", you went for a haircut😊😂

[@Pehz63]

I like the question you pose at the end. It's primarily an informal title (like "leader"), so it makes sense that people would disagree on what it means. But everyone agrees on the essence of the title: someone who was involved with the company in a significant way early enough to be a major influence on the company. So how late can a person join a company before they no longer count as a founder? Is "late" measured by time, by the development of the company's vision, or by employee count? If you are influential enough on the company, does that make up for being a bit later? If all you contributed to the company was a name but not a vision, can you still count as a co-founder? What if you contributed a vision, but it was entirely scrapped later on? There will probably be some popular answers to these questions. Possibly even some formally recognized answers. But I think you can't ignore that there's still some subjective element to the title.

[@ZorroComputers]

I feel sorry for those two. They seems to be cool dudes.

[@13thbiosphere]

incompetent in the company would have gone bankrupt

[@shadowninja6689]

Maybe, but they were incompetent and basically committed fraud with how they lied to the board. Tesla ended up being 100% better long term without them.

[@ZalexMusic]

0:50 "mark coins the name tesla"? I guess he coined the name Tesla similar to how the band Hanson got their name. Have you not heard of Nikola Tesla?

[@jgrab1]

Yes, but it didn't describe a car company, dummy. Someone coined the name "Saturn" too even though it's a planet. Someone coined the name Apollo for the vehicles that went to the moon, even though the God existed previously. Reading is fundamental.

[@polloman15]

I believe that is all the people that contributed to the first product to be released

[@bringtheseo]

Who does your video editing?

[@fahmyboy1]

Bro. Your videos are top notch. Your thumbnails are holding you back

[@erickdavid4257]

youtube thumbnails looove that elon raising his eyebrow picture for some reason

[@AhmedBalfaqih]

How about a new term. A cofunder? Just drop the letter O.

[@versaty65]

that Donald Trump reference "Tim Apple" :D

[@dhavalsavalia]

that HDR is crazy

[@lokemmslokemms4294]

the video started off good but left the audience hanging half way. lol

[@chidiebere6131]

Observation, the white text font on the grey background, was not very legible.

[@rickellis7312]

Musk has said in interviews that he did not create Tesla. However he was the person that took dates in loo of wages. Then brought Testa to a new level.

[@MayorSom]

“Tesla made $15bn in profits” did I hear that right? 6:28

[@JohnH1]

I thought it was Gross because it was before the operating costs had been subtracted.

[@MayorSom]

@@JohnH1 IT IS GROSS. But then again that's the sort of profit you'd expect from a car manufacturer that investors state is valued more than GM, VW Group, BMW & Mercedes-Benz Group *COMBINED*

[@joebuslife9275]

​@@MayorSomnope, it is net profit. Look it up

[@lachlanB323]

$17.66B gross profit for 2023 and 4.315 billion in free cash flow. Toyota has $61.699B gross profit and a $9.717B free cash flow. So Toyota is only double the size of Tesla despite selling 5x more cars... hence Tesla's current valuation as their sales will only grow while toyota's will fall drastically.

[@malus1426]

00:52 I definitely wouldn't say he "coined" the name since by definition "coined" is to invent or devise a new word or phrase.

[@altosack]

That may be the definition, but I would include a new definition of an existing word to be coining, although it would be best to be pedantically correct by saying "coined a new definition of...". Not all of us can come up with "meme" (kudos if you know who came up with that off the top of your head!).

[@lawyermahaprasad]

As a founder rule of thumb : Don't take Investment from Reliance , Elon , and Chinese .

[@jorgeavelar98]

Thats the stupidest thing one can say. Out of all the companies Elon has been involved in (more than 10), none have gone bankrupt, most have gone to become multi billion dollar companies...

[@scottm4975]

@@jorgeavelar98seriously. Tesla would have been nothing without Elon.

[@davehasenford3985]

Are you fucking kidding me? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever read on the internet

[@Myko349]

@@scottm4975 But people love to hate when people make it😂 let them have that

[@archigoel]

LOOL, only Musk was mad enough to put his money, no one else would give them money. They didn't put their own assets into Tesla, like Musk did.

[@markthomas7279]

Im interested that with all your analysis 2 points eluded you. First if all there were infact 4 people involved. The one you missed is JB Strauble. Thats a very big ommission and a man that is now well known as CEO of Redwood. So how come his name was not in your analysis. Strauble and Musk also approached AC Propulsion and this is how the four men became involved (4 not 3). Devond point ...As the company continued to struggle through the Financial Crisis cost audits revealed that Eberhard had not declared the full cost of the Roadster with cost being roughly double that which he informed the board. He had infact misrepresented the finances to the Tesla Board. Thats certainly a giring issue and thus it was at this point that Eberhard was fired for misrresenting finances. Unit losses were infact roughly 100% Thereafter yes other CEOs were apponinted and were unable to bridge the margin gap. It was in fact Musk who reengineered the Roadster to a marginal profit. It was also Musk that invested every final cent he had to manufacture thecwaiting list of cars promised. So there you ho. A vouple of corrections for your viewers to condider. Night night poppet!!

[@Aleks-a_l]

Good points. Technically before JB and Elon Tesla was a company just on paper.

[@TomMoench]

Excellent input. I wish to add a piece or two. Between the incorporation of Tesla in July 2003 by Eberhard (CEO) and Tarpenning (COO) and May 2004 five people instrumental in developing the prototype and laying the foundations for Tesla as a company were brought on board. Ian Wright in the Fall 2003 (VP of Vehicle Development) and who would work with Lotus in licensing their chassis as the glider for the Tesla electric motors and additional funding. In February 2004 Eberhard and Wright sought funding which led to Musk with his engineering interests in electric cars and his venture capital. They both agreed to Musk's request to be Chairman of the Board with a final say in all decisions. As reported here he began to do so by providing ideas into the Roadster's development (note: Remember Musk is an emerging rocket scientist/engineer at SpaceX partnering with Tom Muller). Perhaps it is insightful to note a comment by Wright who said Eberhard wanted to build the electric [roadster] he wanted to own and Musk wanted to build a car company like GM. Next came J. Straubel in May 2004 who would be the Chief Technology Officer putting the roadster prototype together. If you define “founder” informally as the person who incorporates a company then Eberhard and Tarpenning are Tesla Motors “co-founders.” If you define it legally as those instrumental to the foundation of a company and legally deserving equity interests then you have 5 founders, all essential, Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, Musk and Straubel. What few point out is that when Tesla began transitioning in 2008 from building a workable Roadster prototype into a production company only Musk and Straubel were left playing an active role in managing the company. One of the most difficult transitions entrepreneurial ventures deal with is evolving into successful, professional management. More often then not the founders of a company do not have the required capability to make this transition. Evidence of this was demonstrated in this video in Eberhard's struggle to manage development of the prototype. To his credit Eberhard recognized this shortcoming as the CEO and recommended being replaced. At this point Musk, much like Jobs, became the iCEO behind the scenes. It is therefore not surprising to me when Eberhard pressed his point legally about “the founders” that Wright, Straubel and Musk were included as “the 5.”

[@ron9079]

Funny how everyone misses that Martin and Mark had the money to fund tesla from a previous liquidation event for a company they had sold but CHOSE NOT TO - simply because they lacked the belief and will. Elon had the belief and willed Tesla into what it is today, no matter what anyone says. If that's not being a founder, I don't know what is.

[@archigoel]

Yup, just putting your name in the founding company paper dosen't make u a founder.

[@TedThomson-xd8vk]

@@archigoel doesnt matter, guy took that company from nothing to something with his money, put his car in space, developed a rocket at 1/10 the cost of nasa. if you're holding his success against him theres something wrong with you internally lol

[@1voluntaryist]

Elon admitted he made a big mistake when he committed to Tesla. He thought since he developed a working prototype BEV and proved the concept, the hard part was done. As time went by, he had to put in more & more $ millions into production and still no profits. Eventually, he was on the verge of bankruptcy, and yet he ignored the advice of all his financial advisors and put his LAST MONEY into Tesla. He barely succeeded! It took working 20 hr. days for months, living, sleeping, on the factory floor. It cost him his marriage. He paid a high price personally and found out that "Production is 200 times harder than creating a prototype". Elon Musk set the "gold standard" for entrepreneurship.

[@HM-hu4hu]

​@@archigoelWhat are you talking about? Elon started the company by putting his own money into it, which the other guys refused to do. Tesla only exists today thanks to Elon Musk.

[@Gunter_Custom]

Correct 💯

[@samricher]

Money wins all the time. You need it to buy people out

[@user-ec3rm9wr1n]

😂😂😂😂 not anymore if people hold shares in your company you fucked.....

[@HM-hu4hu]

The company wouldn't have gotten started without Elon putting his own money into it. The other guys refused to invest their own money.

[@samricher]

@@user-ec3rm9wr1n founders have grace period on the shares they own. If you leave within the first two years then you’ll get nothing

[@alchemist_one]

Then why didn't Toyota or GM crush Tesla?

[@user-ec3rm9wr1n]

@@alchemist_one they need product outreach.,.. like the rest ... No one crush no one it's business... Once you run out of money you are done

[@steverl22]

He put in $6,000,000.....just got approved for a $56,000,000,000 bonus 😵‍💫 those 'founders' turned out to be suckers 😕

[@tomcrown69]

In California 23% of all cars sold in 2024 is Electric Car.

[@imfreakingawesome8928]

imagine having an idea with a friend, running into two people with the same Idea, deciding to work together, spending millions from your own pocket, and then slowly over the next 20 years turning the company into a trillion-dollar giant (at its peak) and people are here asking if you were a co-founder.

[@imfreakingawesome8928]

If elon stole Tesla, he stole a prototype of an electric car that be bought, and didn't end up bringing to production.

[@IDNHANTU2day]

Sounds like a Zuckerberg repeat?

[@Gunter_Custom]

Many many companies that became successful followed this path .. Someone comes up with a great solution to something but has no business or marketing skills.. or doesn't care to.. The business marketing guy sees what the inventor has made and knows there is a market for this,. and how to get it made in volume market it, and sell it.

[@monkeysezbegood]

Without Elon Tesla would be a tiny company doing bugger all. Elon made Tesla.

[@johnsutherland7561]

Probably would have been dead

[@altosack]

Without Mr. Musk, Tesla (the car company) would be as much of a household word as AC Propulsion... even less, since we only remember them because of Tesla (the car company). Well... I knew of them since the beginning, but I've been seriously interested in electric cars (and other forms of sustainable energy systems and transport) since the late 80's.

[@bernicefenton]

damn. just as i was browsing for sth to watch.

[@lukaskraak9313]

So how did he take over Tesla? This video never gave an answer to that question. It went from him being an over involved chairmen of the board causing problems to him being CEO. It’s more a timeline of what happened and not explanation of how or why it happened.

[@kurknielsen]

10:17 Rewatch starting here

[@198-rx]

Someone thought, why they don't sell electric cars when they sell radio controlled ones🤔

[@skytech2501]

If elon is not a co-founder, then we need to come up with a new title like "most essential persons at the start" or MEPATS😂

[@sanjaygupta666]

They're called venture capitalists &/or angel investors. Dime a dozen

[@Entertainment-]

@@sanjaygupta666 But angel investors and VCs have varying amounts of involvement, OPs point is that those term don’t accurately describe the involvement Elon had in Tesla.

[@downix]

​@@Entertainment-Many angel investors do have this level of engagement with the company.

[@Myko349]

@@downix No sir

[@downix]

@Myko349 Yes sir. Hands on Angel Investors are reasonably common for startups.

[@ManfromNowhere233]

If this and if that. Truth is - companies are only able to survive based on how passionately involved a person is - no matter the type of idea, project, or who founded it. Apple without Steve Jobs would’ve most likely died like Blackberry or Nokia. Kudos to the original founders of Tesla who started the company but Elon took it to another level, that cannot to denied either.

[@DeaconDee80]

He learned from Ray Kroc.

[@macoy9999]

this story is missing a lot of detail. Mark Eberhard was lying about how much the Roadster was going to cost

[@sjwright2]

The nexus of Tesla's founding was actually the AC Propulsion tZero made by Tom Gage. That prototype is what directly inspired Straubel, Musk, Eberhard and Tarpenning to pursue commercialisation of electric cars. I highly recommend people read the Wikipedia article for the *AC Propulsion tzero* and specifically the section *Lithium-ion battery conversion* for an accurate summation of how Musk became connected to Tesla.

[@polok890]

What happened to your hair man

[@jessequimpo7354]

Thanks 🙏

[@robjack72]

cool story. Now, if only my slidebean created pitch deck didn't get sent to people's spam folder when sending the link to gmail addresses. Did you guys pivot to a pure content creator model? Seems like it.

[@user-ec3rm9wr1n]

Trust me I won't do it if I were you ...... The obsession nudges the ass always

[@skitzobunitostudios7427]

While Eberhard and Tarpenning were the original founders who kickstarted Tesla, it was Elon Musk's leadership, vision, and execution that transformed Tesla into the pioneering and massively successful electric vehicle company it is today. 45 The original founders did not create anything remotely as big or impactful as Tesla under Musk's guidance.

[@Josh-cp4el]

Someone finally said the truth. But because people don't like Elon these days no one will acknowledge this.

[@OrangebarsInc]

I’ve been waiting for this

[@DeEmperor1]

He didn't "steal* anything. That's how money works. No one is going to bring in most of your initial investments and don't end up taking control of the company. Its basically the thing with selling your novel rights to movie studios. You lose control.

[@rock3tcatU233]

oof, this is some next level elon simping.

[@DeEmperor1]

@@rock3tcatU233 Intellectual response. 🙄

[@Trizzer89]

"Tim Apple" hahahahah

[@jimmyniful]

I would have really loved a more technical dive into this. Like who did they hire that had electric car knowledge? Elon? Did they develop any significant innovation that benefited Tesla right after Elon took over? What was the state of the company and Elon's contribution before taking over? Because, if Elon invested over 6 mill and provided the technical knowledge, then he may not have been a co-founder technically, but he deserves some credit and he should not be called a thief in this instance. Maybe he didn't want his time and money to go to waste in a dying company while looking for the right CEO? Let's be honest, If the company wasn't a success because of Elon, they wouldn't care today.

[@archigoel]

Which is why these type of video's are shit. This is common information -- Before Musk, Tesla was a paper company -- with o assets, o building, only a PPT. That's not a auto company, its a holding company. And Thief? Seriously? He was a CEO of Space X and last thing he wanted was to be Tesla CEO...but Martin was failing and he had to step in. Its shameful how they are twisting things.

[@HM-hu4hu]

The company was just a name on a piece of paper before Elon joined. There were no employees or products or technology. Basically nothing.

[@Gunter_Custom]

You can find all this out by googling it.. 😂

[@sanjaygupta666]

Musk provided no technical input, only cosmetic. It’s also an objective fact that he isn’t an engineer

[@jimmyniful]

@@sanjaygupta666 I was hoping they would expand on your first point a little more. I'm going to check for myself, but if that is the case, he really isn't a founder. I think there's nuance in your second, although it is more difficult for a someone who is not an engineer, it is not impossible to innovate.

[@osagie_co]

Is it just me or is the exposure on your recent videos really high?

[@justjc51]

Great video. Only small thing I find wrong is that it is stated that Tesla Motors was the EV company that made Elon Musk interested in electric vehicles. That honor should go to AC Propulsion, who gave Elon Musk a ride in their tZero roadster in hope of an investment. Their plan was to help other companies make EVs, living of the royalties on the patents used. Helping Tesla Motors make the Roadster was their biggest mistake, as Tesla decided to use the knowledge to mnake Tesla patents that made it possible to build EVs without using AC Propulsion patents and thous paying AC Propulsion for their role in building their company. When I found this out I stopped rooting for Tesla Motors/Tesla. When Tesla released their patents for "free" they set two things into motion. - First they stopped the established automakers from cooperating with AC Propulsion, as their patents were close enough to the Tesla patents that they came with the risk of Tesla demanding that the Terms of use from Tesla, of free access to all the patents owned by a company using Tesla patents, if used. - Second they made China the leader in developing new EVs, as new companies without patents could be built without risk on the patents Tesla released.

[@InventaChris]

Blatantly misleading and libelous. Elon Musk is a * tertiary * founder who joined Tesla before they even had a prototype.

[@Aleks-a_l]

They didn't have desks when he joined :)

[@potodds_trading]

If you read Isaacson's Elon Musk biography, it does seem that Tesla period with Eberhardt/Tarpenning was not much different than any other EV startups that have since failed. It actually took many years later for Tesla under Musk's full leadership to finally emerge as what Tesla is today. There was a decent likelihood that a Tesla with just Eberhardt/Tarpenning would have been just another failed EV venture.

[@andjankowski]

No doubt about it. Still question is, if you take over a company from somebody else, can you call yourself co-founder.

[@potodds_trading]

@@andjankowski Wait, is this what this video is about?? Semantics about a "co-founder" title?? It doesn't seem like it based on the title. ...Elon stole Tesla.

[@devstuff2576]

@@potodds_trading it is not about semantics. it's funny how you are simultaneously trying to diminish the title and defend holding it. If t is just a semantics argument, then Elon writing an email and feeling insulted for not being called one is extremely childish. if it is a big deal, then the question -what does it mean to actually be a co founder - is a valid and important question.

[@potodds_trading]

@@devstuff2576 lmfao, I work in tech. Some tech company I was considering interviewing with, was offering "founder" title for a developer's role. It's a joke. Yeah it is about the semantics. Once Eberhardt/Tarpenning had run the EV startup into the ground without an Elon Musk just like the myriad of other failed EV startups, NO one would have cared who the hell the "founders" were. The ONLY reason why people want to bask in the Tesla glory and wealth is because of what Musk built. FYI I am definitely not a Musk fanboy but I will give credit where credit is due.

[@itayizinzombe947]

Still doesn't make him a founder, just the money bags!

[@Theodore-tj4jo]

Ps that is Cannot Stand .....

[@jacobmycroft]

I really don’t think you have made a reasonable case that Elon “stole” Tesla. Like it or not, what ever anyone may think of Elon, Tesla didn’t actually become the Tesla we know today until Elon got involved. Elon was and still is the dynamo that launched tesla into the market place as a serious automotive competitor. Which oddly enough is the only reason Marc and Martin brought him into the start-up in the first place. It’s more than clear in this video that the progenitors had become obstacles to the kinds of innovations necessary to make the company successful. They took credit that wasn’t due. They were disrespectful. And when challenged, instead of apologizing they went to war with one of their largest investors. The really sad part of this story is that had Marc and Martin been a little more flexible and cooperative in the beginning they would most certainly be billionaires many times over today. The moral of this story is never bite the hand that feeds you.

[@Trizzer89]

Eberhard claiming he had no money is laughable. He had millions beforehand and certainly had at least a million left over plus 25% of Tesla

[@user-xb9dx2mp1z]

Yeah but unlike a public company, it is hard to liquidate your shares during VC stages. It may be hugely possible he had no short term liquidity for his day to day cost of living

[@Myko349]

@@user-xb9dx2mp1z He also did not accomplish shit, he did not make money for anyone, not investors or himself, where would he expect money to come from?😂

[@archigoel]

@@user-xb9dx2mp1z dudem Musk was living with friends, as he had put every last penny in Tesla & Space X, Eberhard could also have done it, but he plaid safe and smart, not mad like MUsk. He had lot of assets, that is not even a question.

[@stevesiboun]

The two original guys brought with them the idea. They did nothing to make Tesla what it is today. Elon breathed life into Tesla. The discussion of founders is pointless.

[@maxaluta3618]

In my opinion Elon Musk is the creator of the Tesla car brand, but he is not the founder of the Tesla company.

[@johnmuir8878]

This dude saying "the things we had to put up with in these early days"...... Under Elon, Tesla did by all accounts the impossible with Tesla from concepts, to design, to marketing and to actual efficient production. Then he didn't even get the compensation he deserves because..? Most people talk about wanting to do "good", fewer put actual effort into doing "good" and then barely anyone has actually ever done "good" at scale. What category you put Elon in is a simple litmus test of your intelligence and propensity to be or not to be manipulated by liberal propaganda.

[@johnsutherland7561]

Well said

[@TomNashTV]

Epic vid

[@Aleks-a_l]

If being objective still missing some key parts of the story.

[@mukamuka0]

Idea without money is just a daydream. So I think if your biggest investor want to be called co-founder...why not? It's just a title, useless one at that. The most important is still money and support to keep company running.

[@rodrigo445678]

The “original” founders didn’t want to use their own liquidity on Tesla, Elon did and became the operational figure that led the company into success.

[@archigoel]

This is more than that. this is not like an IT company where just with idea u can do a lot. THis is a auto company, these guys didn't even have a office, employee or prototype. THis was decided in the court.

[@mukamuka0]

@@archigoel It's just hurt Mark and Martin ego that's why it's a problem. It would be ok if both real founder want a bragging rights but they have to pay for it. When they refuse to put on their own money to get majority share. They lose that rights. They are employee (being CEO or whatever) who beef with the employer, Chairman of the board. CEO jobs is literally work under the board supervision. As I'm said, Co-founder is not legal title. If Elon ask to be call as the Gigachad of company, why the hell is that a problem? He's paid tens of millions for that. It's also why we have DEI in every company right now, because the biggest investors (blackrock) demands it. However, it's still a common sense that Mark and Martin blinded by their ego, couldn't figure it out

[@gbreslin6635]

Haven't watched this but Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla. 😊 Hooray 🤗

[@timothydenyer7749]

and if Musk had not got involved they would still be two little rich kids putting batteries in their tonka toyz.........

[@jacobkirstein6352]

Elon started SpaceX and Tesla around the same time 50M each

[@-jl3rr]

It matters little if he was there in the early days he is the one that made Tesla what it is today. Just like Ringo Starr wasn’t an original member of beetles .

[@toot4you19]

You could argue that the term founder apply to two kind of people. The people who actually founded the company (were part of the incorporation) and people who in its first 3 years of operation joined and made such a remarkable contribution in terms of vision that it changed the company structure and direction.

[@DumbledoreMcCracken]

"actually founded" sounds like an "actual founder". If you have an idea, and need a founded company to make the idea a reality, you have founded nothing. You are instead an employee, or a consultant, or a stakeholder. Elon founded nothing in Tesla.

[@falazarte]

This is almost like asking to an adopted child abandoned by his parent ",who are your parents".

[@vitmusilek7406]

Tim Apple, haha!

[@roxter299roxter7]

Did you read the book? I don’t think he has ever said he was the founder of Tesla.

[@hiphopvirgins4552]

Tim Apple? 😂😂

[@Entertainment-]

New to the internet?

[@TheGuillotineKing]

He wasn't a founder but he was a huge investor and had a vision

[@trucksanddirt1506]

What vision. Spilling lies and fraud? This guy is a criminal and belong next to his friends Sam Bankmann Fried, Elizabeth Holmes, and Trevor Milton.

[@Th1200]

he sold a vision tesla won't ever be able to deliver.

[@13thbiosphere]

The truth is when Elon took over the company barely even had a functioning prototype,,... mass production which is incredibly hard ..... 99% of the work.... And without Elon the company would have certainly gone bankrupt there would be no Tesla in retrospect Elon regrets buying the company he could have could just started something from scratch it would have been less painful

[@gregthorne3164]

I’ve watched 12 minutes. Are you ever going to get to the point or is the title click bait?

[@gavinbalajadia8697]

I think they just created a prototype which is the easiest thing in a startup.

[@Bryan-fb8dh]

They started the LLC and chose the name. Thats about it. Having the idea to make electric cars isnt original or special and thats all they had. Im guessing their mad because they sold their shares early early.

[@jorgeavelar98]

the prototype was not created until Elon join.... Elon joined when there was just an idea.... not even an office

[@downix]

​@@jorgeavelar98They took Elon for a spin in the prototype as part of the pitch, so, you are wrong.

[@archigoel]

LOL, No. they didn't make the prototype. It was done by other company. They only started on Prototype once Musk and money came in.

[@downix]

@archigoel You don't know what the term "prototype" means, do you? Many companies contract out initial prototype manufacturing because they haven't built fabrication facilities yet. Tesla was no different there.

[@Themiddleman416]

Buying isn't stealing.....

[@alihakimi1707]

Founder is the first person to com up with the idea, usually one person. Maybe in some cases there are multiple but almost always the spark is from a sole individual.

[@aberba]

Naa, it's mostly more... Microsoft, Apple, Facebook are all examples. It's harder to start a company alone

[@theaznshadow]

Tim Apple, for president!!

[@altosack]

One could argue he has more power in his present position. I think it's wrong, but one could argue that, based on how much influence CEOs of Fortune 500 companies have on the actions a president is allowed to take. Certainly, the aggregate power of the Fortune 500 CEOs is greater than that of the POTUS.

[@daveb4446]

This completely ignores that Martin was removed for committing fraud, and that they didn’t begin development until after Musk was already on board. The prototype had been built by an entirely different company without their involvement. So they didn’t actually build anything until Musk got involved.

[@darylreuben4871]

I have an idea for something, but I don't have the money, skills or ability to build it. Wanna come do everything for me? Just don't think of yourself as a co-founder, you're just a bag of money. Ok?

[@StinkPickle4000]

Probably ignored that because there is no evidence of Martin's fraud, just poor performance. Elon on the other hand...

[@sjwright2]

I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia article for the *AC Propulsion tzero* and specifically the section _Lithium-ion battery conversion_ for an accurate summation of how Musk got connected with Tarpenning and Eberhard.

[@QuantumEX]

Elmo is a moron!

[@nth7273]

@@StinkPickle4000 Elon's performance - just starting a few billion dollar companies.

[@simonstergaard]

just found your channel, and i like your style. there are many channels like this, but the narration on them are crap.

[@TriTran-qz5bv]

Personal viewpoint only: Elon Musk is a genius in marketing. If a University course has a subject call "Social Media Manipulation", Elon Musk properly the inspiration of that. To Elon fan, this is a complement for the record ^^

[@HM-hu4hu]

Yeah, let's just ignore how he led both Tesla and SpaceX not only to success, but to dominance...

[@z33d6]

I'm not sure about this whole "founder" thing, but I'm sure as hell he tick all the boxes for an asshole.

[@skitzobunitostudios7427]

in the future, you'll be screaming that you always loved and believed in Elon when theres a settlement on Mars and a Giant Asteroid is headed for Earth. I ask many people why they hate Elon, never any answers.... always media inspired NPCs. and they always are losers.

[@altosack]

That's true; many of those attributes served the company well during and after its deepest struggles to become successful. The deep questions are: is it necessary to be an asshole to make those hard decisions made at Tesla; if that's true, is it because of the largely unregulated capitalistic economy in the US; and, if _that_ is true, is it generalizable to most technological successes within a system?

[@shimacharles]

Thank you Caya, In this case, Co-Founders should be Martin and Mark.

[@GET2222]

No. I became a company co-founder 18 months after its inception; if it weren't for me, the company would have been worth nothing without my help. I reinvented the product and saved the company and its investors from bankruptcy by engineering 10 patents. I also owned a company and made someone a co-founder after I had developed a product for over a year. Nothing is wrong with giving pivotal people within an organization like Musk props and the title co-founder to cement them to the organization. If you don't see the value in this you are an idiot.

[@jorgeavelar98]

Given that all actual development and business function only happened after Elon joined, Elon can easily be considered a co-founder, which is exactly why the courts ruled in his favor....

[@Pyrolonn]

Elon doesn't seem to grasp the difference between investor and founder. Even if you're a big investor on day one, that still isn't a "founder" (and Elon wasn't an investor on day one). Yes, it probably wouldn't be where it is without Elon's cash, but then again it wouldn't be where it is at without gov't cash. So it makes as much sense as calling Uncle Sam a "founder" as well.

[@altosack]

You may want to go back and investigate how much government cash has been given to Tesla, and what the circumstances were (and are), including how much has been given indirectly by giving it to purchasers of Tesla vehicles instead of to Tesla directly; you are then free to compare this to other US companies and circumstances. I may be wrong, but it sounds like you are repeating what you've seen posted elsewhere by others who have not gone through this worthwhile exercise.

[@vasthefox]

Apart from money it was Musk who saved Tesla from irrelevance and turned it around with his ideas and vision to be the Technology leader it has become.

[@DragonZombie2000]

He is by legal definition the founder, regardless of what you think.

[@MyFirstYoutubeHandle]

I think there should be some consideration here. Without Elon, it’s almost certain that Tesla, and EVs as an industry, wouldn’t exist.

[@DonHavjuan]

The opposite is true. It would be much further advanced.

[@johnsutherland7561]

@@DonHavjuan Big oil and gas has to much power. Ev's needed a stud like Elon to bring it main stream

[@markthomas7279]

​@@DonHavjuanhow so?? There are just TWO companies with positive margins on EVs and that's 20 after the startup of Tesla. One of those was financed by the CCP. The other by Elon Musk. The fact is that Tesla is the only company that has built self sustaining cash from EV operations and this whilst investing in Autonomy and now Robotics.

[@kenw.4539]

I think Elon is a "co-founder" in the broader sense. Sure he wasn't there when they named and incorporated the company so he wasn't a co-founder in the strictest sense but nothing really happened until he invested a big way at the very start and he also took control of the company as board chairman from the very start. I think he deserves to be called a co-founder with a small caveat.

[@rickbackous1041]

Call him whatever he wants because if it wasn't for Elon, Tesla would probably be defuncted by now instead of a thriving car company with a ridiculous stock price. Love him or hate him, nobody can run multiple companies except for him.

[@DonHavjuan]

So now that it's on the path to go broke, that too is Elmo

[@johnsutherland7561]

@@DonHavjuan Please revisit your opinion 5 years from now

[@michwashington]

You’re meandering too much , especially towards the middle

[@johnlamazares4274]

It's not clear what contribution Elon made at the start, but he was very annoyed for being ignored in the initial press release which leads me to believe he played a bigger role than you made out. There is one thing for certain, Tesla would not be around today if it wasn't for him, regardless of the mistakes he made along the way.

[@DonHavjuan]

His arrogance is not an argument

[@springer-qb4dv]

Musk always complain he doesn't have super voting shares in Tesla. LOL. If Musk was true founder of Tesla he would have given himself super voting shares, just like he did with SpaceX.

[@mRahman92]

The founder were the friends we made along the way. Not quite the hostile take over I was expecting.

[@jeffhunter8664]

Before Elon, they only had an idea with no car experience. From Space X, we know that Elon does not need experience. He will read up on how to build an electric car. Idea vs. Action

[@cg5648]

Elon needs government subsidies to survive, never forget that. Also Tesla will go bankrupt within 5 years.

[@OweEyeSea]

I don't think Founder is really a legal term, so this all really doesn't mean much of anything. Just grown men acting like Toddlers. Although Musk wasn't there when the company was actually incorporated, he became involved a mere 7 months later. And I don't think all that much was done during that 7 months. I also don't think Eberhard or Tarpenning contributed all that much in terms of financing, expertise, leadership, technology development, etc. It seems their major contributions were: coming up with the name Tesla, deciding to start with a sports car targeted at affluent environment conscious buyers, deciding to us Lithium Ion batteries, and convincing Elon to invest heavily. Maybe there was more, but it didn't seem like much.

[@fremiamagus]

When a company is founded there is a space on the company charter for whom the founders are. It is very much a legal term.

[@SocialMediaDale]

He’s not a co-founder. He wormed his way into owning the company.

[@HM-hu4hu]

You mean he invested his own money, which the other guys refused to do...

[@lejhand2067]

​@@HM-hu4hu Own money 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@markthomas7279]

That is a matter of fact. 😮

[@Delli88Burn1]

To be fair Elon is a Founder of Tesla 2.0. Tesla 1.0 is akin to raising funds for a hobby and was never built to survive

[@altosack]

Overall, I agree completely. However, I'd consider pre-Elon Tesla to be, at best, a beta release, probably alpha, so pre-1.0. The volume sales of the Tesla Roadster should be considered 1.0, and Elon was involved in the entire development of that.

[@soup-nazi6824]

Without Elon running tesla it would just be a little company & Evs worldwide would still be tiny....😅

[@EMBEVIDEO]

Elon was the guy who made things possible and made Tesla what it is today. Those to guys would have disappeared immediately. And they made a fortune. No one forced them to sell,

[@drakezen]

HOwever, if there was no Elon there would be NO CHANCE of there being a Tesla. None, if you know the whole story of how it began and continued. Elon took massive risk to push Tesla onto the main stage.

[@morgengabe1]

Bump

[@rodrigo445678]

Elon is a co-founder of the Tesla we know, the Tesla that wouldn’t exist without him.

[@LV-ii7bi]

Elon was a funder, not a founder.

[@jovanleon7]

He couldn't fund Tesla if he didn't find it though.

[@LV-ii7bi]

@@jovanleon7 Do you men he's also a finder? ok, sure.

[@jovanleon7]

It actually doesn't matter about the labels. The point is, Tesla wouldn't exist let alone become the most valuable car company on earth if it wasn't for Elon.

[@someguydino6770]

My bet is that Elon Musk ends up in jail for fraud

[@abdulalam4711]

It doesn't really matter who founded the original Tesla that went nowhere with only a basic prototype. The Tesla today is all Elon. We need to understand Tesla company did not invent EV or did not invent EV conversion tech. What Tesla has invented is commercial manufacturing and scaling of EVs. And a lot of other things since then. This kind of things just sound like whining.

[@MattMOhio]

He's not gonna fuck you

[@tianlinlu2054]

Idea great, design terrible.