Elon Musk has single-handedly changed the landscape of the electric vehicle market. Well, sort of. He's the driving force behind Tesla, the biggest, most dominant heavyweight that has trail-blazed through the electric vehicle market, smashing records every step of the way. However, he didn't get there alone. In order to rise to the very top of the automotive industry, Elon Musk has employed some of the smartest, most savvy employees to work for his brand. . Of course, while employing these sophisticated geniuses to work for Tesla and bring the company to the very top of its game, Elon Musk has essentially trained and cultivated his top rivals. As the richest human in the world, Forbes reports that more than a few of his employees have gone on to compete head to head with Elon Musk after gaining valuable insight from their experiences at Tesla.
As a combined effort of brilliant minds, Tesla Motors has become the most valuable car maker in the world, recently taking over Toyota to lay claims on this title. The current net worth of Tesla $773 billion. Let's meet the men that would take on a challenge as big as this one...
Henrik Fisker
Henrik Fisker is the CEO and cofounder of Fisker Inc. and this former employee of Tesla has had his sights set on overtaking the brand for quite some time. Henrik is a highly esteemed designer that has a series of accolades under his belt, including a successful career as a design consultant at Tesla.
Successful in his own right, Henrik first went under fire when Elon Musk was unsatisfied by the design he created for the Model S. In fact, these two went head to head in a court battle, with Musk accusing Fisker of gaining employment at Tesla for the sheer reason of collecting information to position his own level of success.
Since going their separate ways Henrik Fisker is now working closely with Magna, a giant in the automotive industry, and according to Forbes, his corporation is doing incredibly well, as they peg the "market capitalization of $4 billion and about $1 billion of cash for product development."
Gene Berdichevsky
Gene Berdichevsky's story is an interesting one on many levels. Initially a trusted employee working under Elon Musk as the principal battery engineer for the Roadster, he has since moved beyond that role and has opted for a position that offers him greater personal growth, and boundless income earning potential.
During his time working at Tesla, he began to push his own boundaries with the thought that he could cultivate a brand new opportunity by overhauling the lithium-ion batteries that were being used when manufacturing electric cars. Seeing an opportunity to expand the life span of the batteries and produce them at a fraction of the cost, he positioned himself to leave Tesla after 4 years of employment, and embark on his own adventure. He became the CEO of Sila Nano and has seen wild success.
According to Forbes, "Sila Nano has raised $930 million, including a $590 million round in January that boosted Sila Nano’s valuation to an estimated $3.3 billion."
Peter Carlsson
Peter Carlsson enjoyed his position as the Chief Purchasing Officer at Tesla and he, too, had an obsessive interest in the batteries being used during his time working under Elon Musk. When his employment at Tesla came to an end, he went on to found his own company called Northvolt, which markets the brand as being "the world's greenest battery."
Under Peter Carlsson's direction, Northvolt's mission statement is to carry a "minimal carbon footprint and the highest ambitions for recycling to enable the European transition to renewable energy." They also put their focus into the safe recycling of batteries as well.
Carlsson has invested over $62.9 million to procure and develop Northvolt, and according to Futurism, his massive organization will soon be able to produce "32 gigawatt-hours of storage per year, making it the largest lithium-ion battery factory in Europe."
Peter Rawlinson
Tesla is undeniably the world leader when it comes to the manufacturing of electric cars, but enlisting the best always means taking on a risk. Working for Tesla are a collective of great minds that all have their own ambitions, and the means required to make good on them. Peter Rawlinson is another example of this. He began working for Elon Musk at Tesla in 2009 and described the euphoria that was felt when he was challenged and inspired by working with one of the worlds most fascinating people.
Peter was the Chief Engineer for the Tesla Model S, which was a stellar performer and highlighting example of just how much power could be packed into an electric vehicle. His success at Tesla and the knowledge he gained while working there was the catalyst behind his adventurous move to start his own company, called Lucid Motors. An interviewer for Torque News revealed; "it was clear that his experience in engineering, developing, and marketing the Tesla Model S was a strong advantage in knowing how to focus on efficiency, performance, and advanced design when it came time for him to start his own luxury EV business."
Lucid is backed by a $1.3 billion investment and is set to soar to the highest levels of success.
Sources: Futurism, NorthVolt , Forbes, Torque News