Elon Musk used to scream if he wasn't mentioned in an article about Tesla, company's first CEO says

Martin Eberhard said
Elon Musk would “scream” at him if he wasn’t mentioned in press coverage of
Tesla.
Getty

Tesla cofounder Martin Eberhard said Elon Musk used to “scream” if he was not cited in Tesla stories.
The cofounder said he tries to avoid news about Musk since he left the carmaker in 2007.
Eberhard said he feels he’s still under Musk’s “skin.” Musk didn’t return requests for comment.

Martin Eberhard, one of Tesla’s cofounders, said his relationship with Elon Musk has soured to the point that he now avoids all news about the billionaire.

Musk and Eberhard worked together at Tesla for a three-year period ending in 2007. In an interview with Insider, Eberhard said he and Musk were “congenial” until his last few months at the company. At the time, Eberhard was serving as CEO, while Musk was an investor and board member.

“His behavior changed dramatically as soon as we started having press about Tesla,” Eberhard told Insider in an interview. “He got mad if anything was ever written about Tesla and it didn’t feature his name prominently. And that’s when I realized that there was an ego involved here that I hadn’t recognized before.”

As CEO, Eberhard briefly became the face of the carmaker. He was dubbed “Mr. Tesla” in news articles and publicly introduced the Tesla Roadster to California’s governor at the time, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Eberhard said that Musk would call and “scream” at him if he saw an article that didn’t include Musk and cite his role as Tesla’s largest investor.

Past reports have suggested that Musk has a temper. In 2018, Wired reported that Tesla employees were told to avoid passing Musk’s desk because he had a habit of going on “rage-firing” sprees. A Musk biography published last year said Musk had a reputation for exploding at top executives and employees on the assembly line. Another book by The Wall Street Journal’s Tim Higgins said Musk threatened to fire a public-relations firm in 2006 over a New York Times story on Tesla that did not mention Musk.

In the past, Musk has denied allegations that he rage-fired employees, calling them  “false” on Twitter and saying he gives “clear and frank” feedback to employees.

Musk didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on this story. Insider’s emails to Tesla’s press line were not returned.

Eberhard resigned as CEO of Tesla in 2007. He previously told Insider that Musk and Tesla’s board met behind his back and voted to replace him as CEO. 

Musk has said Eberhard’s departure was related to delays in the Tesla Roadster’s production as well as other operational issues.

“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.”

Since leaving Tesla, the cofounder said he still has a “small stake” in the company but has sold the majority of his shares. Today, he tries to avoid news of Musk, whose name has become virtually synonymous with Tesla, he said.

“Honestly, I have Elon Musk blocked in my newsfeed,” Eberhard said. “I don’t need to read any more about him.”

In 2009, Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Musk alleging libel and defamation after he started calling himself Tesla’s founder and made negative statements publicly about Eberhard. The lawsuit was settled that year for an undisclosed amount, with the condition that Musk and two other Tesla executives could claim the title of Tesla founder. Eberhard and Musk also signed non-disparagement agreements as a part of the settlement.

Musk slammed Eberhard in a tweet late last year disputing Tesla’s history — a point of contention between the two men. Musk said he was more than a board member in Tesla’s early history; he was “head of product and led the design of the original Roadster.” 

Eberhard told Insider he feels Musk has tried to change Tesla’s origin story and that his involvement in the carmaker’s founding still irks the billionaire.

“It’s under his skin,” Eberhard said. “What my therapist told me is that ‘What you can read from all that is you’re still under his skin, so if he’s under yours, at least you’re even.'”

Read the full Insider interview with Martin Eberhard.

Do you work for Tesla or have some insight to share? Reach out to the reporter via email at gkay@insider.com, on secure messaging app Signal at 248-894-6012, or through Twitter DM at @graceihle. Reach out using a non-work device.