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ringobob t1_iu5pmmj wrote

Reply to comment by riphitter in why Elon musk is A true Edison of our time ? by zaham_ijjan

As others said, he came in and made a deal with the founders to also call himself a founder, and eventually the other founders left.

They were pretty early, it's not correct to say that Musk was the only driver of innovation in the early days, nor is it correct to say he had nothing to do with an otherwise fully functioning car manufacturer. It's not clear based on what I've read exactly whose idea it was to make their initial effort a performance car, but that decision was key to making electric cars something the public took an interest in, and Musk had a hand in some of the design choices supporting that decision according to other founders.

It's important to understand that Musk had a very real and present role in the early days of Tesla, so dismissing him as a co-founder simply because he came in when the number of employees was already greater than 0 isn't really right or fair, but neither is it right to say he did it all by himself and the other founders did nothing as is implied by many of his fanboys.

If nothing else, then the big takeaway is that you don't want Musk to hold financial control over your idea if you want to continue to be associated with it. Whatever he brings in terms of investment and decision making, his own credit will subsume yours.

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john_fartston t1_iu7uz8r wrote

yes, if you're going to criticize Elon for his false image criticize the fact that he never mentions the fact that he claims to come from humble beginnings when his father owned an emerald mine growing up

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TummyDrums t1_iuia3qj wrote

Musk is no doubt a successful businessman. He isn't however, the genius inventor that he portrays himself as. He sees a good idea, buys the company, and funds/expands it. Most of his companies were all existing entities with established ideas before he got involved with them. He's not the innovator himself, he just pays other people to innovate. He'd like you to think its all him, though.

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NorwayNarwhal t1_iu7fxrn wrote

One of my high school friends is the son of one of the original founders. I would spend every Christmas eve at their house.

Musk wasn’t involved until well after Tesla was already established. They built the roadster before Elon butted in. Literally all he did was buy them out and slap his name on it.

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wasdlmb t1_iu7hwej wrote

That's... not true. Elon Musk was the biggest investor and chairman since 2004, less than a year after the company was founded. He became CEO in 2008, a year before the Roadster was released.

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NorwayNarwhal t1_iu7li4x wrote

The roadster was released well after the first one was built and designed. They built one and sold it for a tremendous amount to build capital, then started a small production run

Edit: I am wrong. Oops. Still gonna insist my friend’s dad was far more instrumental than elon was, but I’m certainly biased

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