Elon Musk Sets the Record Straight After Viral Tweet About Tesla's Origins Sets Internet Ablaze
After a viral Musk-bashing tweet threw shade on the early days of Tesla, Elon Musk joined the fray to set the record straight.
The fuss began when Jake Broe, who maintains a YouTube account, decided to share a piece of his mind regarding Musk.
Broe tweeted an image of Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who CNBC identified as the founders of Tesla.
“It’s always worth reminding Musk’s fan boys that these are the brilliant men who founded Tesla. Elon was just a series-A investor who bought in, then sabotaged the company enough until these men were pushed out, then he spent the next ten years telling everyone he founded Tesla,” Broe tweeted.
It’s always worth reminding Musk’s fan boys that these are the brilliant men who founded Tesla. Elon was just a series-A investor who bought in, then sabotaged the company enough until these men were pushed out, then he spent the next ten years telling everyone he founded Tesla. pic.twitter.com/ZgZmJVTgz4
— Jake Broe (@broe_jake) November 25, 2022
One defender emerged.
This is so misleading. @elonmusk invested nearly all of the Series A round. At that point, Tesla was just a name & 3 guys with no money who’d registered the company 6 months earlier. https://t.co/kse0fggXoy
— Sam 🕊 (@SamTwits) November 26, 2022
“This is so misleading. @elonmusk invested nearly all of the Series A round. At that point, Tesla was just a name & 3 guys with no money who’d registered the company 6 months earlier,” a Twitter user named Sam posted.
Musk said he was more than an investor.
“More importantly, I was head of product and led the design of the original Roadster. Eberhard was wealthy and could have risked his money, but was unwilling to do so,” Musk wrote.
More importantly, I was head of product and led the design of the original Roadster. Eberhard was wealthy and could have risked his money, but was unwilling to do so.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2022
In reporting on Tesla’s early days, Business Insider noted that in 2006, two years after he started investing in the company, Musk had a grand vision for the company’s future.
So your problem is that Musk said he was the head of design? Not that his contributions were critical to the founding and success of Tesla?From almost all of Series A to one of the largest market cap companies in the World Elon Musk has been heavily involved with Tesla. Why hate?
— Zachary Kutz (@mrzachkutz) November 27, 2022
“Some readers may not be aware of the fact that our long term plan is to build a wide range of models, including affordably priced family cars. This is because the overarching purpose of Tesla Motors (and the reason I am funding the company) is to help expedite the move from a mine-and-burn hydrocarbon economy towards a solar electric economy, which I believe to be the primary, but not exclusive, sustainable solution,” Musk wrote then.
Musk became CEO of Tesla in 2008, roughly one year after Eberhard departed as CEO. Tesla went public in 2010.
Be aware that I never said Musk CREATED Tesla. He didn’t. He just made it a success, against long odds. If you really want to understand how amazing that was, look at the DeLorian.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 26, 2022
Tarpenning would later leave the company as the Model S sedan was in development.
“The whole thing was wonderful from the beginning to the end. It was, you know, the worst and the best. And it’s worked out great,” he said, according to CNBC.
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