“Nikola Tesla was a genius, but also a failure”
Nikola was a financial failure, but remains one of the true geniuses in the pantheon of great inventors. His patents even today remain some of the most remarkable ever granted, as his differential equations are a complete description of AC generation, transmission and motor usage.
Nikola was not even really a financial failure, but simply a pawn who was destroyed in the war between Edison’s robber baron backers and George Westinghouse, with the robber barons using unethical stock manipulation techniques that are now illegal.
But I do agree with you about the irony of using the Tesla name for Musk’s fraudulent car company.
I’m not sure the comparison works perfectly...I think Musk is a modern day robber baron. He has used hype to manipjlate stock price, and there is a shell game going on among his solar panel, battery wall, and car companies...they are all borrowing and lending money to each other (low interest government money) at high rates. I’m sure Musk makes money on Tesla every day, no matter the stock price.