'Incredibly insulting': Musk demands credit in Roadster press

From:: Elon Musk
Date:: July 18, 2006
To:: Mike Harrigan (Tesla VP of marketing)

Partial text. Only these passages were published; [...] marks a gap.

like to talk with every major publication within reason. [...] The way that my role as been portrayed to date, where I am referred to merely as 'an early investor' is outrageous. [...] Apart from me leading the Series A & B and co-leading the Series C, my influence on the car itself runs from the headlights to the styling to the door sill to the trunk, and my strong interest in electric transport predates Tesla by a decade. [...] Martin should certainly be the front and center guy, but the portrayal of my role to date has been incredibly insulting. [...] I'm not blaming you or others at Tesla — the media is difficult to control. However, we need to make a serious effort to correct this perception.

About this email

Days before the Roadster unveiling, Musk complains to Tesla's marketing chief that press coverage calls him merely an early investor, lists his influence on the car, and demands a serious effort to correct the perception.

Notes

Business Insider published images of the emails 'pasted from court documents' (Eberhard v. Musk, San Mateo County Superior Court, 2009); the images did not render, so only the passages quoted in the article text are recorded, in article order. First passage begins mid-sentence as quoted ('as been' is as printed). Recipient's title is from general reporting, not the email header.

Where it came from

Court record; attribution widely reported.

Tesla, executive & internal. Tags: press, founding-era, roadster, credit, eberhard

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