On July 1, 2023, Tesla will celebrate its first 20 years of life. The reconstruction of these two decades – in which the company did not have an easy childhood and then grew stronger and achieved success – however, does not see the presence of Elon Musk in the initial phase.
In fact, his entry into the company took place only at the beginning of 2004, when in February Musk led the collection of funds (amounting to 7.5 million dollars) becoming the chairman of the board of directors.
Tesla’s real parents are the lesser known Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, two computer engineers who initially founded it as Tesla Motors. Eberhard graduated from York Community High School in 1978 and received his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering in 1982 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1983 from the same school.
Tesla’s other co-founder, Marc Tarpenning, was born in Sacramento on June 1, 1964 and graduated in computer science in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley.
His professional phase began at Textron, working for several years in Saudi Arabia. In 1997, Tarpenning joined NuvoMedia with Martin Eberhard for a 2000 sale of the RocketBook to Gemstar-TV Guide International for approximately $187 million.
The first self-financing with which the two engineers gave life to Tesla came from this profit.
Eberhard’s interest in sports cars – as well as topics that were becoming increasingly important in those years, such as the reduction of dependence on imported oil and the need to reduce global warming – led to the birth of the first Silicon car company Valley.
In 2003, Eberhard became the first CEO of Tesla Motors, headquartered in San Carlos, California. Tarpenning was initially its chief financial officer (CFO) and later its vice president of electrical engineering. However, the debut on the market took place only after Elon Musk was appointed CEO with the first series of the Roadster in 2008.
Tarpenning himself clarified in an interview with CNBC that Musk – often credited as the creator of Tesla – actually wasn’t. “Elon was a Series A investor and served on the board of directors providing great support.”
“Then – explained Tarpenning – he became CEO”. And while he credited him with taking Tesla to “fantastic” heights in the intervening years, Tarpenning said, “but he wasn’t the founder in the sense that he wasn’t. We started it.”
Source: Ansa
I am an author at Global happenings and I mostly cover automobile news. In my time working in the automotive industry, I have developed a keen interest in the latest developments and trends. My writing skills have also allowed me to share my knowledge with others through articles and blog posts.
