Martin Eberhard, the former co-founder of Tesla has disclosed that he is broke and “basically unemployable”
Elon Musk fired Martin Eberhard as CEO of Tesla, and after being removed as CEO in 2007, Martin Eberhard told Insider he was out of work and out of money.
“After I left Tesla, I was basically unemployable for about two years because of the intellectual-property agreement I had with Tesla and with Tesla being as litigious as they are,” Eberhard told Insider. “So for the first couple of years, I was, first of all, out of money and, second of all, unemployed.”
At one of their weekly get-togethers, Eberhard and his old friend Marc Tarpenning came up with the concept for Tesla, but due to Eberhard’s employment agreement with Tesla, the firm was the owner of the intellectual property he created while working for the electric-car manufacturer.
He was also barred from employment with another automaker for a period of two years.
He was also barred from employment with another automaker for a period of two years.
“Pretty much on the day that time period expired, Volkswagen hired me,” Eberhard said.
He began working for VW in 2009.
Around three years after Elon Musk started investing in the electric car manufacturer, the co-founder of Tesla lost his position as CEO of the company.
Eberhard earlier disclosed to Insider that Musk and Tesla’s board had secretly convened and decided to vote him out of his position as CEO. Eberhard changed jobs and became the president of technology.
In 2007, he quit the business. Since then, there has been tension between Eberhard and Musk over his role in the early days of Tesla.
Eberhard’s resignation, according to Musk, was due to production delays for the Tesla Roadster as well as other operational problems.
“It was not a question of personality differences, as the decision to have Martin transition to an advisory role was unanimous among the board,” Musk said at the time.
“Tesla has operational problems that need to be solved and if the board thought there was any way that Martin could be part of the solution, then he would still be an employee of the company.”
Eberhard filed a lawsuit in 2009, claiming that Musk had slandered him. The matter was resolved the same year. Musk has since referred to the co-founder as the “worst person” he has ever worked with.
While referring to a wager on Tesla, the billionaire criticized Eberhard last year, claiming that he “could have risked his money, but was unwilling to do so,”
Eberhard referred to Musk’s remark at the time as incorrect in an email to Insider.
Eberhard worked for VW until 2011 as the Electronics Research Laboratory’s director of EV research.
Although he described the experience as “extremely educational” he claimed that advocating for electric vehicles was “a lot like pushing strings.”
Afterward, he spent a short time working for various businesses, including SF Motors and Lucid Motors, which at the time were known as Atieva. Also, he founded the EV battery businesses Tiveni and Inevit.
Eberhard admitted to Insider that he still had a “small stake” in Tesla (less than the 5% stake that necessitates filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission) and said he was optimistic about the future of the business.
Eberhard describes himself today as a “retired entrepreneur” and “occasional visionary.”
He still meets with Tarpenning once a week to talk about concepts; it has been a tradition between the two men for more than 35 years.
The two business owners collaborate to establish a modest investment company.
