Elon Musk joined Tesla’s board of directors in 2004.
Musk invested in Tesla during the company’s early development and joined its board in February 2004. At that time, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning had founded Tesla, which was working toward producing an electric sports car.
Musk became increasingly involved in the company’s strategy, product decisions, and engineering direction. He became Tesla’s chief executive officer in 2008, after serving as chairman and during a period when the company was bringing the Roadster into production.
A common mix-up is placing Musk’s involvement at Tesla’s founding in 2003 or at his appointment as CEO in 2008. Tesla was founded in 2003, but Musk’s board membership began the following year, before he became CEO.