THE TESLA MAFIA

Max Levchin is a made man in the PayPal mafia, the group of cofounders and early employees that would go on to found or fund companies including Yelp, LinkedIn, Palantir and Kiva. But Elon Musk, the PayPal mafia’s most famous is also at the center of a newer mob: capo, former Tesla employees who have gone on to form electric vehicle and battery companies, mostly in California, that are poised to have an outsize impact on the $6 trillion global auto industry in the decades to come.

Sterling Anderson Cofounder, Aurora Innovation

The MIT-trained scientist worked on Autopilot at Tesla before leaving in 2016 to start Aurora. The self-driving car company has raised more than $1 billion and bought Uber’s autonomous unit in December.

Gene Berdichevsky Cofounder, Sila Nanotechnologies

Tesla’s seventh employee and the principal battery engineer for the Roadster. Berdichevsky’s Daimlerbacked company makes energy-dense lithium-silicon materials for more-efficient batteries.

Henrik Fisker Cofounder, Fisker Inc.

He styled a BMW for James Bond and consulted on Telsa’s Model S. Now the new billionaire’s publicly traded Fisker Inc. is readying a $37,500 electric crossover.

Peter Rawlinson Cofounder, Lucid Motors

Rawlinson, a veteran of Jaguar and Lotus, was chief engineer for Tesla’s break- through Model S back in 2012. His Lucid Air, a $169,000 ultraluxe ride, is due this spring and promises to outdo Tesla’s best.

JB Straubel Founder, Redwood Materials

One of five Tesla cofounders, Straubel left in 2019 to concentrate on his new startup, which recycles used batteries from electric vehicles.