When Apple Computer was founded, it's cap table contained three people - Jobs, Woz, and Markkula. That seems like a reasonable definition of cofounder, even if he wasn't an active participant in the company.
Wouldn't deny him either, as he was there at the beginning, though of a slightly different iteration. By the time the "modern" apple computer corporation had formed, though, he was out.
Lots of people are founders in title and historical reconning. I keep seeing Aaron Schwartz listed as a founder of Reddit, and I personally agree - he was the first employee in legal fact, but he was there before there was a product, which makes him a founder in an important sense.
That’s not true at all. Apple was founded in 1976. Nine months later Markkula was added to the cap. table, in 1977, thanks to his investment. Early investor and employee, yes, founder, no.
And Elon wouldn’t exist without his parents. Tesla wouldn’t exist if George Washington hadn’t won the war of independence from England. Does that make them founders of Tesla? Everyone contributed, but truth matters.
Are you kidding? Without the founders Tesla would not have existed. They took the risk and had the vision. Musk then came in later as an opportunist. Definitions very much matter. Truth matters.
The company existed for 6 months before Musk became involved. It had no product, no prototype, and not even a real design for a product. It took most of a decade to turn that into a real car, all of which time Elon was involved.
