Masters in Business · Wednesday, September 16, 2026
The Founders 100 ETF defines a founder-led company as one where the original founder is still running the company, typically as CEO. While straightforward in many cases like Dell or Facebook, definitions become complex with individuals like Elon Musk. For Tesla, the ETF's analysis confirmed through company definitions and a court case that Musk is considered one of the original founders, despite his initial role as an investor.
“So we define founder-led as the original founder. That's the person who started the company. still running it, most often as the chief executive officer.”
“Or Elon's a great one to examine because there is. For some reason, there's controversy as to whether he's the actual founder. We dug in and did the hard work. The company defines him as the founder. And in fact, it was either 2012 or 2014, there was a court case where this was actually settled. And Elon Musk is one of the five original founders of the Tesla Motor Company.”