Which CEO has been CEO of Tesla since 2008?

Elon Musk has been CEO of Tesla since 2008. He joined Tesla’s board as chairman and invested in the company soon after its 2003 founding, then became CEO in October 2008 after Martin Eberhard and Ze’ev Drori had led the company.

Tesla was created to develop electric cars when battery costs, limited charging infrastructure, and public skepticism made the business unusually difficult. Under Musk’s leadership, Tesla moved from the low-volume Roadster to the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y, while also expanding into energy storage and solar products.

A common mix-up is Tesla’s chairmanship: Musk was Tesla’s chairman from 2004 to 2018, but Robyn Denholm became chair in 2018. Musk remained CEO and product architect. Another frequent confusion is that he did not found Tesla alone; Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded the company, while Musk became its most prominent early investor and executive.