The founders fight at Tesla Motors just got uglier.
Former Tesla founder and CEO Martin Eberhard has sued current CEO and company investor Elon Musk, and the feathers are flying.
San Mateo Superior Court documents released Wednesday reveal Mr. Eberhard is accusing Mr. Musk of libel, breach of contract, and failure to pay owed wages, among other claims. Mr. Eberhard is also unhappy that the second Tesla Roadster off the production line, which was promised to him under contract, was sold to a friend of Mr. Musk and in its place he was sold a Roadster that had been in accident.
“The car was delivered only after it had been smashed into the back of a truck by a Tesla Motors employee during a so-called endurance test conducted on the dense and public 101 Highway,” court documents said.
Mr. Eberhard invented the Tesla Roadster and started the company in 2002. He later met with PayPal co-founder Musk, who became an investor in Tesla. Mr. Eberhard claims he was ousted from the company that he founded and that Mr. Musk largely took credit for his accomplishments and disparaged him publicly.