Martin Eberhard, the founder and former CEO of Tesla Motors, has filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court in San Mateo against Elon Musk – Tesla’s current CEO – and his former company. Eberhard is seeking damages for slander, libel and breach of contract.
Eberhard was unceremoniously let go from Tesla in late 2007 by then chairman Elon Musk. Musk later claimed Eberhard’s departure was due to an audit that put the price of the Roadster much higher than senior management had predicted, but the law suit claims Musk simply didn’t like Eberhard. Eberhard’s case even claims Musk threatened to convert his Preferred Stock Options into Common Stock Options – thereby gaining control of Tesla’s board of directors – just to get Eberhard out of the company.
Once Eberhard did exit the company, he says that he did not receive the severance payments he was entitled too.
The court document – at 146 pages – covers several other topics which we’re sure will get aired in the coming days. Musk hasn’t been known to exactly hold back his feelings, so keep an eye out for a response. It has also been reported that Musk and Tesla plan to file a countersuit, but there is no legal evidence of that at this point. Stay tuned.
