Martin Eberhard, co-founder of Tesla Motors, the makers of high-performance electric sports cars, is suing the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, citing allegations of slander, libel and breach of contract.
Eberhard’s lawsuit was filed on May 26th in San Mateo County, California Superior Court and seeks unspecified damages.
“Tesla Motors Inc. co-founder Martin Eberhard sued the company and Chief Executive Elon Musk, claiming Musk engineered his ouster and defamed him to take credit as the electric roadster’s creator.
Eberhard alleges that Musk began a campaign to take control of the electric-car start-up when he invested in the closely held company and joined its board in 2004.”
Eberhard claims that Musk falsely said that he was the founder of the company, and also lied about the extent of his involvement in the company, PayPal.
“Musk pushed Eberhard out three years later and sought to take credit for the idea behind the San Carlos, Calif., company by defaming Eberhard in media interviews and to Tesla workers and other investors”
“Eberhard contends he is owed severance pay and stock options. He also claims he was promised the second roadster off Tesla’s production line, which was finally delivered to him only after it had been smashed into the back of a truck by a Tesla Motors employee during a so-called endurance test, according to the complaint.”
Tesla is planning to counter sue Eberhard, it is unclear how much Eberhard is seeking in damages.
“Daimler recently tool a 10% (or $50 million) stake in Tesla, putting the company’s valuation at $500 million.”
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July 2nd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Hi there. I saw your recent post about the Martin Eberhard lawsuit against Tesla Motors. You didn’t contact me for a response but I wanted to reach out and provide the company’s stance on this:
It goes without saying that this lawsuit will not have any effect on Tesla’s considerable momentum or business strategy going forward. This lawsuit is an unfair personal attack and, more importantly, paints an inaccurate picture of Tesla’s history. It’s a fictionalized account of Tesla’s early years — it’s twisted and wrong, and we welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. As the media have already covered exhaustively, Tesla’s full board of directors unanimously fired Martin shortly after discovering that the cost of the car was more than twice what Martin portrayed it to be at the time. Incidentally, Tesla will likely be filing counterclaims and in the process present an accurate account of the company’s history.
Again, to emphasize, this is a fictionalized account of Tesla’s early years. To that extent, why not let Tesla’s verifiable track record speak for itself? Since the new management team came on board last year, Tesla has achieved unprecedented success, right up to the delivery of the 500th vehicle earlier this month and the opening of a retail network spanning two continents. We spearheaded a strategic partnership with Germany’s Daimler AG, an unquestionable validation of Tesla’s business strategy and the strongest endorsement yet of the current management team’s many achievements. We spent the past year relentlessly driving down Roadster unit costs and increasing supply chain efficiencies - to such success that Tesla is now widely considered the leanest automaker worldwide. We launched the Model S sedan and have received more reservations than even our own bullish internal estimates. These are all astounding triumphs for such a young company - and it shows just how much Tesla has grown in the past year under the current management team.
Thanks!
Rachel Konrad
Tesla Motors Inc.
rachel@teslamotors.com