Marc Tarpenning

Marc Tarpenning
Born	(1964-06-01) June 1, 1964 (age 60) Sacramento, California, U.S.
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA)
Occupation	Co-founder of Tesla
Website	https://marctarpenning.com/

Marc Tarpenning (born June 1, 1964) is an American engineer and technology entrepreneur who co-founded Tesla Inc. with Martin Eberhard in 2003.[1][2][3][4] Tarpenning served as the chief financial officer (CFO) and vice president of engineering of Tesla.[5]

Early life

Marc Tarpenning was born in Sacramento, California, on June 1, 1964.[6] He attended the University of California, Berkeley, and obtained a B.A. degree in computer science in 1985.[7]

Career

After graduating from Berkeley, Tarpenning spent several years working for Textron in Saudi Arabia.[7][5][8] Tarpenning then developed software and firmware products for several companies, including Seagate Technology and Bechtel, and later served as vice president of engineering at Packet Design, a network technology company.[6] In 1997, Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard founded NuvoMedia, a company that built an early e-book reader, the RocketBook, in 1998.[7] In 2000, Gemstar–TV Guide International acquired NuvoMedia for $187 million.[7][9][6][8]

In 2003, Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard collaborated again and founded Tesla Motors (now Tesla Inc.). The two co-founders funded the company until early 2004, when Elon Musk led the company's $6.5 million Series A financing round in February 2004 and became the chairman of the board.[10] Tarpenning continued to serve as the chief financial officer (CFO) and the Vice President of Electrical Engineering in Tesla until 2008.[5][11]

After leaving Tesla, Tarpenning began to serve as an adviser or member of advisory board of several companies, including his alma mater (Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET) and SkyDeck, UC Berkeley) [7][12][13] and Spero Ventures, a VC firm.[14]

References

1. "CNBC Interview with Tesla Founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Trapanning". CNBC.
2. "Marc Tarpenning – Engineer, Entrepreneur and Investor". Marc Tarpenning. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
3. "A Founder's Night: Hap Klopp & Marc Tarpenning – UC Berkeley Sutardja Center". UC Berkeley Sutardja Center. 2017-03-06. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
4. "Tesla Co-Founder Marc Tarpenning Tells Definitive Story Of Company's Beginnings | CleanTechnica". cleantechnica.com. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
5. "The Making Of Tesla: Invention, Betrayal, And The Birth Of The Roadster". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
6. "Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning | American entrepreneurs". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
7. "Co-Founder Marc Tarpenning '85 Shows Off Tesla's "Baby Pictures" | Innovators". innovators.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
8. "Co-Founder of Tesla, Marc Tarpenning". Internet History Podcast. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
9. "Tesla's original team, where are they now?". Electrek. 2015-05-16. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
10. Kumparak, Greg. "A brief history of Tesla". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
11. "Berkeley Innovators Series: Marc Tarpenning, Co-Founder of Tesla Motors". CITRIS Foundry. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
12. "SCET | Advisors". scet.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
13. "SkyDeck | Advisors". skydeck.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
14. Kolodny, Lora (2019-10-03). "Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning joins Pierre Omidyar's Spero Ventures". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-03-23.