Tesla founding

Founding (2003–2004)

The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors, Inc. on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.[8][9] They served as chief executive officer and chief financial officer, respectively.[10] Eberhard said that he wanted to build "a car manufacturer that is also a technology company", with its core technologies as "the battery, the computer software, and the proprietary motor".[11]

Ian Wright was Tesla's third employee, joining a few months later.[8] In February 2004, the company raised US$7.5 million (equivalent to $12 million in 2023) in series A funding, including $6.5 million (equivalent to $10 million in 2023) from Elon Musk, who had received $100 million from the sale of his interest in PayPal two years earlier. Musk became the chairman of the board of directors and the largest shareholder of Tesla.[12][13][10] J. B. Straubel joined Tesla in May 2004 as chief technical officer.[14]