But on Tesla Motors the fact of the matter is that it was started by engineers (Eberheard and Tarpenning) and control was taken away by an investor (Musk)
Some facts: 1. The first wikipedia page review on Tesla Motors from Jue 12, 2006 [1]: "The firm was started in 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.... Tesla has also managed to secure initial funding from prominent investors, such as PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page."
RedHerring Article July 8 2006[2]:
"Tesla Motors said earlier this month that it has raised a $40-million Series C round of financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners and Elon Musk"
Finally from Eberheard himself [3]: "Mr. Musk was one of the leads I followed."
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tesla_Motors&o...
[2]http://web.archive.org/web/20060708071455/http://www.redherr...
[3] http://fora.tv/2011/05/22/Martin_Eberhard_Learn_by_Doing