Who was Tesla Motors’ first chief executive officer?

Martin Eberhard was Tesla Motors’ first chief executive officer.

Eberhard co-founded the company with Marc Tarpenning in 2003 and served as its CEO during the early development of the Tesla Roadster. He helped establish the company’s central strategy: use a high-performance electric sports car to demonstrate that battery-powered vehicles could be exciting, then move toward more affordable models.

Many people answer Elon Musk because Musk is Tesla’s most recognizable leader and has served as its CEO since 2008. However, Musk initially joined as an early investor and chairman rather than founding CEO. Eberhard left the CEO role in 2007, after which Tesla went through further leadership changes before Musk took the position.

Eberhard’s earlier work included creating NuvoMedia with Tarpenning. Their experience in technology and consumer electronics influenced Tesla’s decision to treat the electric car as a sophisticated software-and-hardware product rather than simply a conventional car with a different engine.