Elon Musk Says 'We Didn't Come Up With The Name Tesla'—Bought It For $75K After Sending 'The Nicest Guy' To Camp Out At The Owner's Doorstep

When people think of Tesla TSLA, they think Elon Musk. Fast cars, space-age tech, memes about "funding secured"—it all screams Musk. But here's a shocker: Musk didn't even name the company. In fact, he wasn't the founder either.

That's right. Musk joined Tesla in 2004, a year after it was founded by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Yet somehow, over time, the public started thinking Musk not only built the first Roadster in his garage but also coined the name Tesla. Both are myths.

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In a 2018 interview with Lesley Stahl on CBS's "60 Minutes", Musk set the record straight.

He first clarified that he pronounces Tesla with a "slight z sound," not an "s." Then, as the segment continued, he explained:

"We didn't actually come up with the name Tesla Motors. We didn't own the name. It was a guy in Sacramento who came up with the name and owned the name, and we had to buy it off him for $75,000."

But the story gets even better. The Sacramento man wasn't exactly eager to part with the name. So, Musk pulled a move straight out of a sitcom.

"I sent the nicest guy in the company to just go sit on his doorstep and not leave until he agreed to sell it to us," Musk recalled. "A sweet guy, but nicest impossible to anger… so officially just the guy said fine, I'll sell you the name if you leave my doorstep. Yeah, pretty much."

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That's how Tesla Motors became Tesla Motors.

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If the $75,000 name deal had fallen through, Musk had a backup plan. The top alternative? Faraday.

The name was a nod to Michael Faraday, the 19th-century British scientist whose pioneering work in electromagnetism made modern electric motors and generators possible — technology at the heart of Tesla's mission. It turned out to be a good name to leave on the table. Faraday Future, a rival EV startup, eventually scooped it up.

Now, the founder mix-up isn't entirely random. Musk led Tesla's first major funding round, throwing in $6.5 million of his own money and becoming chairman. Over time, he became the company's frontman, visionary, and eventually CEO in 2008. After a legal settlement with Eberhard, Musk and a few others were officially recognized as "co-founders," but that was years after the company's birth.

So no, he didn't invent the tech or pick the name—but he did bet big and drive Tesla to global dominance.

Elon Musk may not have founded Tesla or named it, but he sure made it famous. And he was willing to pay—and negotiate creatively—to get the name that would eventually become a household brand.

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