Martin Eberhard learned to drive on a farm in Kansas when he was just 13 years old. There began a lifelong fascination with, and love of, cars and driving. So much so that Martin can still remember every car he's ever purchased, how much it cost, and how many miles were on it when he got it.

It's this passion, along with 20 years of start-up, management, and development experience that Martin brings to Tesla Motors. He was a co-founder of two successful start-ups (serving as Chief Engineer at one, and CEO at the next), and considers himself the "customer's advocate," obsessed with making the user experience natural, familiar, and comfortable.

Prior to co-founding Tesla Motors, Martin and Marc Tarpenning co-founded NuvoMedia in 1997. NuvoMedia created the market for electronic books with the 1998 launch of the Rocket eBook and the necessary infrastructure to sell and deliver electronic content securely over the Internet. As CEO of NuvoMedia, Martin lectured around the world, from New York to Buenos Aires, and raised $27 million in three rounds between 1997 and 1999. In 2000, he negotiated the sale of the company to Gemstar-TV Guide International for $187 million.

Before NuvoMedia, Martin was co-founder and Chief Engineer of Network Computing Devices and developed high-volume terminals for Wyse Technology.

Martin graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering and a master's degree in electrical engineering. Martin lives in both Northern and Southern California with his college sweetheart, Carolyn, and their two children, along with an old Siamese cat. He loves hang gliding, paragliding (a hobby ended by directors and officers insurance), and taking long drives in the mountains to watch the sun set.