Marc Tarpenning was born in Sacramento, California, on June 1, 1964. He is an American engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Tesla Inc. in 2003 with Martin Eberhard. Tarpenning was Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President of Engineering.
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Education
Tarpenning completed his education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a B.A. in computer science in 1985.
Family
He is happily married. He is married to Carolyn Eberhard, and the couple has been yearly donors to the University of Illinois since 1984.
Business Life
Tarpenning worked at Textron in Saudi Arabia for several years after graduating from Berkeley. Tarpenning then worked at a number of firms, including Seagate Technology and Bechtel, before becoming vice president of engineering at Packet Design, a network technology firm. Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard launched NuvoMedia in 1997, which produced the RocketBook, an early e-book reader, in 1998. NuvoMedia was purchased by Gemstar–TV Guide International for $187 million in 2000.
Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard teamed up again in 2003 to found Tesla Motors (now Tesla Inc.). The firm was financed by the two co-founders until early 2004 when Elon Musk was in charge of the company’s $6.5 million Series A fundraising round and became chairman of the board. Tarpenning remained Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Vice President of Electrical Engineering till 2008.
Marc Tarpenning is no longer working at Tesla.
Elon Musk is not the founder of Tesla, contrary to common assumptions.
Over the years, he definitely made it his own, investing early on and then managing its rise from niche luxury vehicle to mass manufacturing, adding a solar company and pushing self-driving technology. However, when he became Tesla’s fourth CEO in October 2008, the tech giant – and now the world’s richest man – was just the company’s fourth CEO.
Age
Marc Tarpenning was born on June 1st, 1964. He is currently 59 years old.
Net Worth
Tarpenning has a $2 billion net worth.
Marc Free Time
He has been an entrepreneur in residence, consultant, mentor, speaker, and two-term publicly elected school board member since leaving Tesla. He is presently at Spero Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on long-term abundance.
Outside of work, he is a highly curious individual who is always learning new things through conferences, meetings, books, and courses.
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