I don't see anyone else anywhere near as visionary as Elon Musk at the moment.
And just as our opinions of the word "bias" differ, so does the term "visionary".
LOL, OK, who else in the automotive space is a visionary right now?
Musk didn't do anything visionary. He didn't invent the EV. Heck, he didn't even start or found Tesla.
He had a) loads of money b) was able to attract investors c) was able to make the product seem like you couldn't live without it d) create a cult of followers that would do the rest while much smarter people than he did the heavy lifting and technical work (see the Jobs/Wozniac Paradigm) d) able to lose vast amounts of money while doing so (ie fake it until you make it)
He's more PT Barnum to me. YMMV.
And large automotive companies weren't avoiding EVs (or hybrids) due to lack of innovation or "vision"...but due to them generally being unprofitable (as Musk is finding out, at least $6 billion worth so far). Even broken GM was able to make a very serviceable EV in the 90s as you know. Ditto with Toyota and their 90s Rav4 electric. With the tech at the time, both had ranges in excess of 150kms.
The "cult of Musk" far exceeds reality IMO. But again, YMMV.
LOL, you might not think much of Musk or Tesla, but the mainstream manufacturers have been caught off guard, and are struggling to react. They weren't being proactive at all.
And yes, he wasn't employee #1, but that's just nit-picking details and you know it. They hadn't really done anything in the first year, and he is legally called a co-founder by law (settled). Building a business around a vision is more than just being an ideas person, you've got to know how to execute too.
His first title was "investor".
Then because of his investments, he was able to stack the BoD and have the originals ousted. I know the story. Sounds like you do too.
Ebergard and Tarpening (spelling? ) founded the company and personally named it "Tesla".
And after the out of court settlement (alleged to the tune of 50,000+ shares of Tesla stock! ) was the agreement struck to have 5-6 "co-founders".
I still think Musk's other venture, X-com/Paypal was far, far more visionary than Tesla. Shame about partnering up with Peter Thiel though (yuck).
Did I ever mention how Musk grew up wealthy off the fruits of slave labor? [emoji2] Perhaps another time...