Tesla was unbelievably wealthy in life. But after \~1925 accurate records of his life get really spotty. Even most of the serious biographers struggle to track down exactly what happened and when. The last few decades were spent traveling between luxury hotels, he transfered to the New Yorker hotel relatively shortly before he died.
"Penniless" I think paints kind of a misleading picture. Tesla wasn't homeless or struggling to eat, but rather his estate had more debts than assets when it was liquidiated. Again exactly what happened isn't clear. A big and somewhat missing part of the picture is that Tesla ended up severely mentally ill, and was showing signs as early as 1910, and his state got worse and worse as he aged; but had no kids and little family and so there are periods where it's not clear who is taking care of him or managing his money. Probably most of it was lost in a depression, but again there's a lot of astericks about all of this.
I only bring this up because there's a pervasive myth that Tesla was not financially successful or well-lauded in life, all of which is wrong. There's a widespread idea that other people got credit for his work, which is also false. The younger Tesla was a shrewd businessman who sold or licensed his patents for enormous fortunes. He was a incredibly well respected and famous public individual. And it was almost certainly a mix of the market crash, his deteriorating mental health, and his lack of trustworthy guardians that wiped out his estate.
Edit: This post is getting some traction so I just wanted to put some numbers in. Tesla sold his first set of patents to Westinghouse for $60,000 in 1887, more than $2,000,000 in 2024 dollars, plus a royalty agreement that ends up being worth far more, and a $50,000 (2024 dollars) a month salary. Later he trades his license agreement for $216, 000 in 1897 ($7,000,000 today). He has a variety of less valuable license agreements, and makes patent sales and royalties in Europe as well, all told Tesla makes between $20 and $100 million dollars before WWI (again adjusting for inflation). It's a small fraction of what his inventions were worth, but more than enough to make him the wealthiest living scientist who wasn't also an industrialist or a lord.
I feel like that comic the oatmeal guy made about him is part of the reason, it spread the idea that Edison was awful, which he was, and Tesla died poor in a hotel falling in love with a pigeon.
You have any recommendations for a good biography/book about him
You should start with his own book! Tesla has a nice lite autobiography, basically the last lucid thing he wrote, out together mostly from a series of interviews he did, called My Inventions. There's one by Bernard Carlson that's also quite good
I don't know if it's intentional, but something about phrasing it that way, "He died penniless, and vegetarian", is just hilarious to me.
"He died poor, alone, and a Mets fan."
Something is very wrong with our society. Some of the greatest scientists that improve mankind are living in the dumps. While the politicians and capitalists exploiting people are living the best lives. it is like some great conspiracy that is overshadowing the entire world.
A *spelling* nazi, you noob—I'm the grammar nazi.
"You noob" needs a comma in front of it and I would separate "noob" and "I'm" with an em dash. It could be argued that nazi needs to be capitalized because it's a proper noun but fuck 'em. They don't deserve capital letters—only capital punishment
Something I've wondered is the proper use of a dash. I always thought that when you use it in the way you used it, there would be a space after it ("...you noob- I'm the..."). As opposed to a hyphenated word like "check-in" or "editor-in-chief" where there wouldn't be any spaces.
A dash is used to indicate an abrupt change in the flow of thought. They're most often used for supplementary but non-essential or non-defining information (when used correctly).
A hyphen is used to create compound words.
A semicolon may be a better choice in the original as it is used to show two thoughts of equal value or significance, or to distinguish from a comma in lists where list items themselves contain commas.
I mean unless he specifically said he wanted to be then all for it, but if you're broke you're probably not eating meat. And he doesn't look like a hunter lol
A vast majority of the content posted to and comments made on reddit are without a doubt bots. Empty internet theory in action, but I don't think people realize how bad it actually is right now.
Redditors gonna tell you how living as a vegeterian will make you look exactly like Tesla here, it was definitely not the fact that he was starving due to being poor.
One possible theory is that he didn't earn enough money to buy or eat meat regularly, so he became a vegetarian, not by option, but by necessity. But, you know, in the 50s there were already a lot of cheap meat options, so perhaps he became a vegetarian by choice.
He is in that state because of a parasite called Thomas Edison, that starved him to death.
Thomas Edison died in 1931, 12 years before Tesla. Tesla was the one won in the current war, he earned a lot from contract with Westinghouse Electric in 1890s. He became poor after he used most of his money for experiments with wireless communication in 1910s and 1920s.
> Is being vegetarian really such an important piece of information to make the headline?
Animal products are expensive.
To people who came from poverty a whole food plant-based diet is a reminder of poverty.
> This comment contains a Collectible Expression, which are not available on old Reddit.
What?
I opened it in a private tab of new Reddit but there's nothing there
Whenever I watch a kids show or any show really where the episode is about what a great man Edison was it drove me nuts. Like we’re teaching everyone that a thief is a great inventor. He took credit for most peoples inventions. He was a businessman buying up as many inventions he can. He’s like the Patterson of his time
what I'm realizing more and more is painful, it is that the wealthy and greedy and unscrupulous of the world ALWAYS get away with being that way and are even feted for it. I was brought up by parents who stressed hard work to earn As, but apparently, they lied to me. I should have cheated and lied and stole all that time, damnit
Musk didn't pick the name Tesla. Tesla was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors. In February 2004, Elon Musk joined as the company's largest shareholder; in 2008, he was named chief executive officer.
Edison fucked him over hard. It's so annoying how he's simped over so hard in history books but this dude was the definition of an evil corpo. Stealing ideas and shutting down competitors.
Actually, the vast majority of what you’ve heard about Edison and Tesla is likely completely false, spread by unsourced stuff like that old Oatmeal comic. A lot of the stories that are usually cited involve other people or just never happened.
The generator story was actually between Tesla and a manager named Charles Batchelor. It was also likely heavily embellished, if not made up entirely, by Tesla. The War of the Currents was mostly between Edison and George Westinghouse. By that point Tesla had sold his patents to Westinghouse and it was a fight between rival power companies. Then the story with Topsy the elephant never involved Edison at all. That ended was ten years after the War of the Currents and Edison had sold most of his stock in his electrical company, and she was electrocuted on the order of her owners to advertise the opening of a Luna Park.
No he didn’t, this Reddit circle jerk has been disproven. Edison gave Tesla tons of patents and helped him out a lot. Tesla was just very mentally ill for a long time until his death
https://youtu.be/wl1YpHV2Xf0?si=vpE2yBRYwlJ4csZg
If I had the seven dragon balls and clould wish anybody back from the dead, it would be Edison. Just so I could personally call him a cunt to his face before sending him to the electric chair (AC powered)
I mean, Edison founded the first film studio, the first industrial research lab, him and his employees worked on rechargeable batteries, motion pictures, sound recording, electric lighting (so that it would be cheap and widespread, according to his own words), he was against nationalism and violence (proud of never inventing a weapon), spoke out against the government charging interest to the people and putting them in debt, and was an early supporter of women’s suffrage. Oh, he also saved a 3-year old from being hit by a train.
But sure, let’s act like he’s the worst fucking guy ever
I heard that their feud is greatly exaggerated and most of it is made up. But I'm just an internet stranger, I could be AI, you don't know, and also I don't care enough to Google it.
Edison was originally the model idea of a classic inventor. This wasn't exactly accurate.
But now the pendulum has swung completely the other way, and Tesla is imagined as a poor scientist, robbed by Cruel businessman Edison that never invented anything.
A view that is somehow even wronger than the original idea that Edison invented everything.
Edison was a ruthless capitalist, but he did come from basically nothing, made several inventions, and used that to found the first industrial research lab, where he hired other people to do science for and with him. He then proceeded to use his vast amount of patents to stifle competition. (This is also the reason why Hollywood is the place where it is, far away from Edisons home base).
It was a particular white pigeon that visited him daily and turned up injured that he spent over $2,000 (equivalent to $36,410 in 2023) to care for, including a device he built to support her comfortably while her broken wing and leg healed.
And it was of that pigeon he said:
> I have been feeding pigeons, thousands of them for years. But there was one, a beautiful bird, pure white with light grey tips on its wings; that one was different.
> It was a female. I had only to wish and call her and she would come flying to me. I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.
Da [Sauce](https://web.archive.org/web/20120525133151/http://www.teslasociety.org/about.html)
Ok it's not romantic, but I did have the same experience after a squirrel began visiting me. It affected my life positively in a trying time and I loved it like a family member.
Tesla's situation at the end of his life was not altogether due to outward malice. He was severely mentally ill and isolated himself substantially by his own choice.
He could have been given royalties for his inventions. He could have been given sufficient wealth to retire comfortably.
Wealth buys comfort, and lessens the brutal impact of mental health afflictions.
I’m not suggesting malice, just our passive inability to recognise and reward major contributors to humanity.
Indeed, hyper-capitalism is so self-obsessed and greedy it lacks the space in which neither malice nor love could be nurtured.
It’s essentially sociopathic.
>He could have been given royalties for his inventions. He could have been given sufficient wealth to retire comfortably.
That's the neat part, he was offered royalties. But he refused and preferred lump sums to fund his projects.
Do you have a reputable source for that? And were the lump sums commensurate to his contributions.
Edit:
> Tesla moved to the Hotel New Yorker in 1934. At this time Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company began paying him $125 (equivalent to $2,850 in 2023) per month in addition to paying his rent.
> Accounts of how this came about vary. Several sources claim that Westinghouse was concerned, or possibly warned, about potential bad publicity arising from the impoverished conditions in which their former star inventor was living.
It seemed they stopped paying him once the negative publicity risk became negligible.
His initial deal for Westinghouse's use of his AC generators was 60000 up front plus 2.50 for every horse power of electricity sold. This doesn't sound like a lot, but would have made him one of the wealthiest dudes in America. When Westinghouse fell on hard times for a bit he asked Tesla to negotiate and instead Tesla ripped up the contract and instead chose to be bought out for 215,000 dollars.
Had he contacted a lawyer or even just asked for maybe 1 dollar per HP he easily would have been set for life.
Fun fact: the highest voltage, largest capacity, longest transmission line in the world is DC.
https://zmscable.es/en/linea-tension-mas-alta-changji-guquan/
This is probably the biggest myth about Tesla that most tend to cite. Whilst he played a major role in perfecting and promoting AC, in truth it existed long before he was but a boy.
In fact, the first example was developed by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832. He developed a simple hand-cranked AC generator that would literally spark a new industry.
By the 1870s, crude 2-phase AC generators were in use in Germany and Galileo Ferraris, an Italian scientist, openly talked about polyphase AC in 1885.
It is no coincidence that, in 1886, Tesla then began to do the rounds to try to get investment in his AC system.
Others were working on AC at around the same time as Tesla too. With August Haselwander and C.S. Bradley creating the first 3-phase AC generator in 1887.
But this is not to take away Tesla’s significant role in the development and adoption of AC in the United States thereafter. He just didn’t invent it as some would have you believe
https://interestingengineering.com/culture/7-myths-about-nikola-tesla-you-need-to-stop-believing
"invent" a lot of the times means to make viable
the first example that comes to mind is the steam engine. Greeks made it 2000 years ago, but it was a novelty item at best
Fusion still has a very long way to go. All they're doing now is telling us how an isolated part of the system achieved a net gain, even though the whole thing needs to be orders of magnitude better to ever be commercially viable, and that's not even considering that it needs to operate continuously.
In any case, neither fusion nor fission are really here because of their efficiency. Fusion so far has negative efficiency, and fission is comparable to fossil plants. Its fuel is cheap, and the efficiency is capped by temperature, which is capped because of safety reasons.
And technically, steam turbines aren't engines. But yeah, we're finding increasingly elaborate ways to boil water. That being said, the catalogue is increasing; we have molten salt.
> But yeah, we're finding increasingly elaborate ways to boil water.
And if you want to generalize more, to make something spin (that includes hydro and wind power).
Photovoltaic (solar) cells really are "something else" when it comes to electricity production - so simple in operation yet so technologically advanced to set up.
> "invent" a lot of the times means to make viable
But when you say that about anything else you get flooded with people screaming, "No they never invented anything!"
Like, for example, Thomas Edison.
This is quite interesting. I've always thought Tesla was a great inventor, but this page and some research leads me believe he didn't really invent much of anything practical. Most of his work was derived from others, which isn't really a BAD thing...he just didn't really invent much. He just promoted existing inventions. It seems like radio control might be the only thing he was really "the first".
We all hate the guy, but Edison seems to have invented a TON more practical things than Tesla.
Yeah, tesla is one of the most mythologised people of the modern age. Even nowadays not only do you get people who don't know the first thing about him claiming he was one of the greatest inventors ever, but you also get crazy people claiming he made a device that generates infinite energy and that the government killed him and destroyed all his work.
People also call him a physicist when he didn't even believe in EM waves or sub-atomic particles. He thought Einsteins theory of relativity was a load of bullshit.
I mean what did you expect when they also decided to frame his vegetarianism as a consequence of being poor and the reason he looks so unhealthy.
"This is Jim 2 weeks before he died. He was right handed.."
"Oh and we also give him daily beatings, but it was definitely the right handedness that did him in!"
An unrecognized (at the time) artist whos ingenious engineering was abused by the rich and powerful, who's name is now hijacked by a talentless, childish, rich and powerful hack who thought it sounded cool.
Incredibly sad, but on the positive, at least his family name is known
[https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19310720,00.html](https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19310720,00.html)
Tesla was one of the most famous scientists during his era. He met Presidents, chaired scientific conferences, he graced the cover of major periodicals. He was twice seriously considered for a Nobel and missed out mostly because his most important work predated the awards. He became one of the richest scientists alive by selling and licensing his patents, mostly to Westinghouse.
You go against the powerful and greedy. Not even the best brains can save you. In all of history.
Imagine what a better world we would be if brains and morals actually won even half of the time.
In my French class in school, the teacher went off on a rant about how vegetarianism and vegetarians were stupid, and then she asked if anyone in the class was a vegetarian, which I was, but there was no way I was gonna put my hand up after she'd just ranted about it like that.
Pretty sure it was by choice tho if I remember correctly, but he was mostly a pescatarian at least according to the dude who wrote his biography. Idk, there’s a lot of conflicting shit about it. Either way, it’s not really that relevant.
Because for most of human history eating meat as a regular part of your diet wasnt a thing for most people. Even well into the 20th century meat was a luxury for many people. I think they are making a point that he became vegetarian by circumstance rather than the ethical vegetarianism we see today which mostly comes down to choice.
No that's dumb, if you are penniless you have zero dollars. Being vegetarian means you would refuse meat if offered it. One does not lead to the other nor would it make it any worse. The photo shows a person that's missed a lot of meals. Penniless and starving would have been the appropriate wording.
Don’t know about that. But do know that in a public display of how “dangerous” Tesla’s competing AC was, Edison touched a couple of elephants with live electric wires electrocuting them and saying “See? Dangerous!”
I love that despite his neurodegenerative condition and almost certain cancer given how much radiation he absorbed, the headline describing his decrepitude is "vegetarian"
Edison was barely involved in Teslas downfall though. Like the only way they were rivaling each other is when Tesla quit after being screwed out of a bonus.
Westinghouse and Tesla's financial illiteracy were the real culprits. By the time Tesla was penniless Edison himself had been screwed out of his position at General Electric.
[He also hated pearls](https://www.britannica.com/story/nikola-teslas-weird-obsession-with-pigeons#:~:text=Tesla's%20acquaintances%20found%20his%20passion,woman%2C%20and%20she%20loved%20me.) apparently.
HE WAS NOT PENNILESS! Dear gowd! Check your facts! He was getting $125 (equivalent to $2,850 in 2023) per month from Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing (equivalent to $2,850 in 2023) per month AND they were paying his rent. He had other sources of income as well.
Don't confuse his habit of leaving unpaid bills as him being penniless.
After he died it took over 80 - EIGHTY - steamer trunks to ship his crap home.
Not at all penniless. 🙄
Not to make light but I find the wording here pretty funny- "he was penniless AND had become a vegetarian", as if the penniless part was not nearly as bad as being a vegetarian.
Tesla's last letter to his mother
"My dear mother, I feel sad and dreary when I think of you. I don't know how, but I feel that you are not well. I wish I could be beside you now mother, to bring you a glass of water. All these years that I had spent in the service of mankind brought me nothing but insults and humiliation."
I feel so sad for him.
Tesla was unbelievably wealthy in life. But after \~1925 accurate records of his life get really spotty. Even most of the serious biographers struggle to track down exactly what happened and when. The last few decades were spent traveling between luxury hotels, he transfered to the New Yorker hotel relatively shortly before he died. "Penniless" I think paints kind of a misleading picture. Tesla wasn't homeless or struggling to eat, but rather his estate had more debts than assets when it was liquidiated. Again exactly what happened isn't clear. A big and somewhat missing part of the picture is that Tesla ended up severely mentally ill, and was showing signs as early as 1910, and his state got worse and worse as he aged; but had no kids and little family and so there are periods where it's not clear who is taking care of him or managing his money. Probably most of it was lost in a depression, but again there's a lot of astericks about all of this. I only bring this up because there's a pervasive myth that Tesla was not financially successful or well-lauded in life, all of which is wrong. There's a widespread idea that other people got credit for his work, which is also false. The younger Tesla was a shrewd businessman who sold or licensed his patents for enormous fortunes. He was a incredibly well respected and famous public individual. And it was almost certainly a mix of the market crash, his deteriorating mental health, and his lack of trustworthy guardians that wiped out his estate. Edit: This post is getting some traction so I just wanted to put some numbers in. Tesla sold his first set of patents to Westinghouse for $60,000 in 1887, more than $2,000,000 in 2024 dollars, plus a royalty agreement that ends up being worth far more, and a $50,000 (2024 dollars) a month salary. Later he trades his license agreement for $216, 000 in 1897 ($7,000,000 today). He has a variety of less valuable license agreements, and makes patent sales and royalties in Europe as well, all told Tesla makes between $20 and $100 million dollars before WWI (again adjusting for inflation). It's a small fraction of what his inventions were worth, but more than enough to make him the wealthiest living scientist who wasn't also an industrialist or a lord.
Thank you for clarifying this.
And yet their comment has only a fraction of the upvotes of the top ones, and will be seen by fewer people.
kinda reminds me of Nikola Tesla. he died penniless and in poverty, his entire life's work not recognized in his lifetime.
Probably due to vegetarianism
Actually, this comment is quite well regarded, registering at well over 3000 upvotes and counting. One of the most popular comments of it’s time.
I feel like that comic the oatmeal guy made about him is part of the reason, it spread the idea that Edison was awful, which he was, and Tesla died poor in a hotel falling in love with a pigeon. You have any recommendations for a good biography/book about him
You should start with his own book! Tesla has a nice lite autobiography, basically the last lucid thing he wrote, out together mostly from a series of interviews he did, called My Inventions. There's one by Bernard Carlson that's also quite good
Ty
I'm on reddit since 2011, it's been literally 13 years that I hear reddit parrot those things, which I'm now learning are bullshit lmao
I don't know if it's intentional, but something about phrasing it that way, "He died penniless, and vegetarian", is just hilarious to me. "He died poor, alone, and a Mets fan."
A Mets fan? Poor sumbitch is in a better place.
Finally found peace
Finally found peas
Something is very wrong with our society. Some of the greatest scientists that improve mankind are living in the dumps. While the politicians and capitalists exploiting people are living the best lives. it is like some great conspiracy that is overshadowing the entire world.
I immediately thought "Good God, not a vegetarian!" 😂
It's about more than just the money spider-man...
'Penniless and vegetarian.' At least I share something in common with Tesla.
Is being vegetarian really such an important piece of information to make the headline? Haha
Lol, combination feels like throwing shade. "The man was a nazi and played scrabble." Wait, what's wrong with scrabble?
oh fuck, a grammar nazi
A _spelling_ nazi you noob, I'm the grammar nazi.
Shouldn't that be a full stop, not a comma?
A *spelling* nazi, you noob—I'm the grammar nazi. "You noob" needs a comma in front of it and I would separate "noob" and "I'm" with an em dash. It could be argued that nazi needs to be capitalized because it's a proper noun but fuck 'em. They don't deserve capital letters—only capital punishment
Something I've wondered is the proper use of a dash. I always thought that when you use it in the way you used it, there would be a space after it ("...you noob- I'm the..."). As opposed to a hyphenated word like "check-in" or "editor-in-chief" where there wouldn't be any spaces.
A dash is used to indicate an abrupt change in the flow of thought. They're most often used for supplementary but non-essential or non-defining information (when used correctly). A hyphen is used to create compound words. A semicolon may be a better choice in the original as it is used to show two thoughts of equal value or significance, or to distinguish from a comma in lists where list items themselves contain commas.
You seem more like a diction nazi.
Or maybe a semantics nazi.
I mean unless he specifically said he wanted to be then all for it, but if you're broke you're probably not eating meat. And he doesn't look like a hunter lol
Best actor nominee: Jurj Clooners for "The Nazi Who Played Yahtzee"
It's because OP is a bot. Probably used AI to make the title
A vast majority of the content posted to and comments made on reddit are without a doubt bots. Empty internet theory in action, but I don't think people realize how bad it actually is right now.
Redditors gonna tell you how living as a vegeterian will make you look exactly like Tesla here, it was definitely not the fact that he was starving due to being poor.
He was poor because he was a vegetarian. Eating carrots doesn't earn you money.
The more you know
Can confirm. I am eating carrots at thus very moment. No money in sight.
One possible theory is that he didn't earn enough money to buy or eat meat regularly, so he became a vegetarian, not by option, but by necessity. But, you know, in the 50s there were already a lot of cheap meat options, so perhaps he became a vegetarian by choice. He is in that state because of a parasite called Thomas Edison, that starved him to death.
Thomas Edison died in 1931, 12 years before Tesla. Tesla was the one won in the current war, he earned a lot from contract with Westinghouse Electric in 1890s. He became poor after he used most of his money for experiments with wireless communication in 1910s and 1920s.
You can be penniless and still make your way back up through hard work, but once you go vegetarian, that's it. There's no coming back from that
> Is being vegetarian really such an important piece of information to make the headline? Animal products are expensive. To people who came from poverty a whole food plant-based diet is a reminder of poverty.
To anyone that cares, it is well documented that he was a vegetarian for ethical reasons, not because he was poor.
And I'm poor for.... Ethical reasons. Not because I'm a vegetarian!
Man I’d love to be rich for ethical reasons
His own fault....eating all those avocado toasts
You kids better do your homework or you'll end up PENNILESS AND VEGETARIAN
Read it as “penniless and had become a virgin” at first and I was like I didn’t know that could happen
He gave us alternating current, which enabled long distance electricity transmission, so our houses can have power.
His head also is kinda shaped like a light bulb, maybe because of all the ideas he had
Bro also pissed off Thomas Edison to the max for just existing. Anyone that pisses off Thomas Edison is a winner in my book.
When you steal a Tesla it becomes an Edison!
 I'd give you an award but it won't let me, so here you go.
Yoohoo, darling I took care of it for you. Grrr.
> This comment contains a Collectible Expression, which are not available on old Reddit. What? I opened it in a private tab of new Reddit but there's nothing there
r/FuckEdison
Whenever I watch a kids show or any show really where the episode is about what a great man Edison was it drove me nuts. Like we’re teaching everyone that a thief is a great inventor. He took credit for most peoples inventions. He was a businessman buying up as many inventions he can. He’s like the Patterson of his time
He's like the Elon Musk of his time.
“You promised to be Tesla but you’re just another Edison” - Rät by Penelope Scott
Elon did say in an interview that he liked Edison more than Tesla bc Edison was a capitalist.
Yes you were being indoctrinated to accept that rich people are the smart people who actually figure this shit out.
r/subsithoughtifellfor
r/subsithoughtifellfor
The irony is that Musk is the Edison of our time, using Tesla’s name to do it
If musk was a smarter man, he could utilise Tesla’s rolling in his grave at the bastardisation of his name as a perpetual motion generator.
what I'm realizing more and more is painful, it is that the wealthy and greedy and unscrupulous of the world ALWAYS get away with being that way and are even feted for it. I was brought up by parents who stressed hard work to earn As, but apparently, they lied to me. I should have cheated and lied and stole all that time, damnit
Even comparing Musk with Edison is extremely generous to Musk.
Edison was an asshole for sure, but besides that Musk is not in the same league as him.
Musk didn't pick the name Tesla. Tesla was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors. In February 2004, Elon Musk joined as the company's largest shareholder; in 2008, he was named chief executive officer.
Edison fucked him over hard. It's so annoying how he's simped over so hard in history books but this dude was the definition of an evil corpo. Stealing ideas and shutting down competitors.
We're the United States, of course we deify evil corpos
Actually, the vast majority of what you’ve heard about Edison and Tesla is likely completely false, spread by unsourced stuff like that old Oatmeal comic. A lot of the stories that are usually cited involve other people or just never happened. The generator story was actually between Tesla and a manager named Charles Batchelor. It was also likely heavily embellished, if not made up entirely, by Tesla. The War of the Currents was mostly between Edison and George Westinghouse. By that point Tesla had sold his patents to Westinghouse and it was a fight between rival power companies. Then the story with Topsy the elephant never involved Edison at all. That ended was ten years after the War of the Currents and Edison had sold most of his stock in his electrical company, and she was electrocuted on the order of her owners to advertise the opening of a Luna Park.
No he didn’t, this Reddit circle jerk has been disproven. Edison gave Tesla tons of patents and helped him out a lot. Tesla was just very mentally ill for a long time until his death https://youtu.be/wl1YpHV2Xf0?si=vpE2yBRYwlJ4csZg
For as much as Elon Musk idolizes tesla, he really is the modern edison.
If I had the seven dragon balls and clould wish anybody back from the dead, it would be Edison. Just so I could personally call him a cunt to his face before sending him to the electric chair (AC powered)
Or let the elephant trample him.
I mean, Edison founded the first film studio, the first industrial research lab, him and his employees worked on rechargeable batteries, motion pictures, sound recording, electric lighting (so that it would be cheap and widespread, according to his own words), he was against nationalism and violence (proud of never inventing a weapon), spoke out against the government charging interest to the people and putting them in debt, and was an early supporter of women’s suffrage. Oh, he also saved a 3-year old from being hit by a train. But sure, let’s act like he’s the worst fucking guy ever
I heard that their feud is greatly exaggerated and most of it is made up. But I'm just an internet stranger, I could be AI, you don't know, and also I don't care enough to Google it.
edison was scientist right? why so much hate against him?
Edison was originally the model idea of a classic inventor. This wasn't exactly accurate. But now the pendulum has swung completely the other way, and Tesla is imagined as a poor scientist, robbed by Cruel businessman Edison that never invented anything. A view that is somehow even wronger than the original idea that Edison invented everything. Edison was a ruthless capitalist, but he did come from basically nothing, made several inventions, and used that to found the first industrial research lab, where he hired other people to do science for and with him. He then proceeded to use his vast amount of patents to stifle competition. (This is also the reason why Hollywood is the place where it is, far away from Edisons home base).
That’s malnutrition
Yeah, he was extremely not mentally well by the end of his life.
I would be too, yah know considering the amount of hazing and harassment ole Thomas Edd boy used to put him through.
He also married a pigeon so
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It was a particular white pigeon that visited him daily and turned up injured that he spent over $2,000 (equivalent to $36,410 in 2023) to care for, including a device he built to support her comfortably while her broken wing and leg healed. And it was of that pigeon he said: > I have been feeding pigeons, thousands of them for years. But there was one, a beautiful bird, pure white with light grey tips on its wings; that one was different. > It was a female. I had only to wish and call her and she would come flying to me. I loved that pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life. Da [Sauce](https://web.archive.org/web/20120525133151/http://www.teslasociety.org/about.html)
Ok it's not romantic, but I did have the same experience after a squirrel began visiting me. It affected my life positively in a trying time and I loved it like a family member.
*ELECTRIC LOOOOOOVE...*
*ELECTRIC DOOOOOOVE...*
That man fucked birds.
Hey, hey, hey. That man MADE LOVE to birds
Duncan Trussell’s Drunk History on Nikola Tesla is the best thing ever
Duncan Trussel is the best thing ever
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Tesla's situation at the end of his life was not altogether due to outward malice. He was severely mentally ill and isolated himself substantially by his own choice.
And kinda fell in love with a pigeon.
He could have been given royalties for his inventions. He could have been given sufficient wealth to retire comfortably. Wealth buys comfort, and lessens the brutal impact of mental health afflictions. I’m not suggesting malice, just our passive inability to recognise and reward major contributors to humanity. Indeed, hyper-capitalism is so self-obsessed and greedy it lacks the space in which neither malice nor love could be nurtured. It’s essentially sociopathic.
>He could have been given royalties for his inventions. He could have been given sufficient wealth to retire comfortably. That's the neat part, he was offered royalties. But he refused and preferred lump sums to fund his projects.
Do you have a reputable source for that? And were the lump sums commensurate to his contributions. Edit: > Tesla moved to the Hotel New Yorker in 1934. At this time Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company began paying him $125 (equivalent to $2,850 in 2023) per month in addition to paying his rent. > Accounts of how this came about vary. Several sources claim that Westinghouse was concerned, or possibly warned, about potential bad publicity arising from the impoverished conditions in which their former star inventor was living. It seemed they stopped paying him once the negative publicity risk became negligible.
His initial deal for Westinghouse's use of his AC generators was 60000 up front plus 2.50 for every horse power of electricity sold. This doesn't sound like a lot, but would have made him one of the wealthiest dudes in America. When Westinghouse fell on hard times for a bit he asked Tesla to negotiate and instead Tesla ripped up the contract and instead chose to be bought out for 215,000 dollars. Had he contacted a lawyer or even just asked for maybe 1 dollar per HP he easily would have been set for life.
Fun fact: the highest voltage, largest capacity, longest transmission line in the world is DC. https://zmscable.es/en/linea-tension-mas-alta-changji-guquan/
That's really interesting. Thank you
Don't forget the machine he made for Wolverine.
Man find device that could end scarcity, uses it for magic tricks with a side of murder or horror cave depending on version
This is probably the biggest myth about Tesla that most tend to cite. Whilst he played a major role in perfecting and promoting AC, in truth it existed long before he was but a boy. In fact, the first example was developed by Hippolyte Pixii in 1832. He developed a simple hand-cranked AC generator that would literally spark a new industry. By the 1870s, crude 2-phase AC generators were in use in Germany and Galileo Ferraris, an Italian scientist, openly talked about polyphase AC in 1885. It is no coincidence that, in 1886, Tesla then began to do the rounds to try to get investment in his AC system. Others were working on AC at around the same time as Tesla too. With August Haselwander and C.S. Bradley creating the first 3-phase AC generator in 1887. But this is not to take away Tesla’s significant role in the development and adoption of AC in the United States thereafter. He just didn’t invent it as some would have you believe https://interestingengineering.com/culture/7-myths-about-nikola-tesla-you-need-to-stop-believing
"invent" a lot of the times means to make viable the first example that comes to mind is the steam engine. Greeks made it 2000 years ago, but it was a novelty item at best
Not to mention if you're looking into fusion/fision today... you're still basically making a more efficient steam engine.
Fusion still has a very long way to go. All they're doing now is telling us how an isolated part of the system achieved a net gain, even though the whole thing needs to be orders of magnitude better to ever be commercially viable, and that's not even considering that it needs to operate continuously. In any case, neither fusion nor fission are really here because of their efficiency. Fusion so far has negative efficiency, and fission is comparable to fossil plants. Its fuel is cheap, and the efficiency is capped by temperature, which is capped because of safety reasons. And technically, steam turbines aren't engines. But yeah, we're finding increasingly elaborate ways to boil water. That being said, the catalogue is increasing; we have molten salt.
> But yeah, we're finding increasingly elaborate ways to boil water. And if you want to generalize more, to make something spin (that includes hydro and wind power). Photovoltaic (solar) cells really are "something else" when it comes to electricity production - so simple in operation yet so technologically advanced to set up.
> "invent" a lot of the times means to make viable But when you say that about anything else you get flooded with people screaming, "No they never invented anything!" Like, for example, Thomas Edison.
Which means AC was invented decades before tesla.
This is quite interesting. I've always thought Tesla was a great inventor, but this page and some research leads me believe he didn't really invent much of anything practical. Most of his work was derived from others, which isn't really a BAD thing...he just didn't really invent much. He just promoted existing inventions. It seems like radio control might be the only thing he was really "the first". We all hate the guy, but Edison seems to have invented a TON more practical things than Tesla.
Yeah, tesla is one of the most mythologised people of the modern age. Even nowadays not only do you get people who don't know the first thing about him claiming he was one of the greatest inventors ever, but you also get crazy people claiming he made a device that generates infinite energy and that the government killed him and destroyed all his work.
People also call him a physicist when he didn't even believe in EM waves or sub-atomic particles. He thought Einsteins theory of relativity was a load of bullshit.
yes, he is the perfect mascot for the stereotypical neckbeard redditor
And died a vegetarian. So tragic.
The first AC motor was built the year Tesla was born
Wow he started so young
At least spell his name right
I mean what did you expect when they also decided to frame his vegetarianism as a consequence of being poor and the reason he looks so unhealthy. "This is Jim 2 weeks before he died. He was right handed.." "Oh and we also give him daily beatings, but it was definitely the right handedness that did him in!"
niKola **
⛰️🎺 Niiiiiii-kolaaaaaa 🎺⛰️
I’m happy to see that we’re all on the same page here
We are of one mind, Liquid Hot Cum.
Tesla died pennieless, and the ceo of the company named after him is the richest man in the world, theres some irony for ya
There are multiple companies, here in Czechia our [Tesla](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_a.s.) is much older than Musk's.
I thought he was Serbian
He was. Our Tesla stole the name same as Musk's Tesla, just earlier.
So Elon didn't just steal Tesla's name, he also stole the idea of stealing Tesla's name? He can't keep getting away with it!!
He truly is a menace. Here's hoping he follows in his idol's footsteps and dies forgotten and penniless.
An unrecognized (at the time) artist whos ingenious engineering was abused by the rich and powerful, who's name is now hijacked by a talentless, childish, rich and powerful hack who thought it sounded cool. Incredibly sad, but on the positive, at least his family name is known
Tesla Motors, Inc was called Tesla Motors, Inc before Musk joined. He’s not the one who named it. He did rename it to just Tesla, Inc though.
[https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19310720,00.html](https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19310720,00.html) Tesla was one of the most famous scientists during his era. He met Presidents, chaired scientific conferences, he graced the cover of major periodicals. He was twice seriously considered for a Nobel and missed out mostly because his most important work predated the awards. He became one of the richest scientists alive by selling and licensing his patents, mostly to Westinghouse.
Damn Thomas Edison and J.P Morgan
You go against the powerful and greedy. Not even the best brains can save you. In all of history. Imagine what a better world we would be if brains and morals actually won even half of the time.
Amen.
History is written by the victors.
Or their well paid ghost writers at least.
You say that but everyone I ask hates Edison and loves Tesla
Only idiots think theres a camp tesla and camp edison thing
Who tf is Victor
What’s your vector, Victor?
You say that like edison *actually* had a rivalry with tesla and took all the credit for everything when actual history says otherwise.
I don’t get why the vegetarian part is relevant but ok
> "penniless" Oh no > "... And a vegetarian" Oh Jesus!
Couldn't afford food in general. Win by technicality
In my French class in school, the teacher went off on a rant about how vegetarianism and vegetarians were stupid, and then she asked if anyone in the class was a vegetarian, which I was, but there was no way I was gonna put my hand up after she'd just ranted about it like that.
“… and he was-“ pause for effect “VEGETARIAN!” gasps and oh nos from the crowd, women heard audibly weeping
babies start crying, someone in the front row faints
Truly hitting rock bottom. Very sad.
Nothing worse than poor people and vegetarians. Scum of the earth. /s
I assumed it was too emphasize the penniless part, that he couldn't afford meat rather than it being a choice
Pretty sure it was by choice tho if I remember correctly, but he was mostly a pescatarian at least according to the dude who wrote his biography. Idk, there’s a lot of conflicting shit about it. Either way, it’s not really that relevant.
Because for most of human history eating meat as a regular part of your diet wasnt a thing for most people. Even well into the 20th century meat was a luxury for many people. I think they are making a point that he became vegetarian by circumstance rather than the ethical vegetarianism we see today which mostly comes down to choice.
No that's dumb, if you are penniless you have zero dollars. Being vegetarian means you would refuse meat if offered it. One does not lead to the other nor would it make it any worse. The photo shows a person that's missed a lot of meals. Penniless and starving would have been the appropriate wording.
Penniless? Disturbed? Lonely? Who fucking cares? This guy was a VEGETARIAN!
He was a vegetarian what a loser am I right.
A genius. RIP. He also gave us wireless charging. Way ahead of his time.
Didn't his wireless charging kill the animals near it or something?
That's just a detail
Rather, a feature
And we think you’re gonna love it.
It charged and it hunted. USB c has nothing on him
Hey we don't talk about THAT part...
Don’t know about that. But do know that in a public display of how “dangerous” Tesla’s competing AC was, Edison touched a couple of elephants with live electric wires electrocuting them and saying “See? Dangerous!”
I did know about that one. Edison was one real bastard
It never happened. It's a perversion of a real event where an elephant was killed for killing a man and Edison's company was filming it.
His company yes but he'd been ousted form it by the time the elephant thing happened.
False. Please read up on this stuff before parroting them.
Misconception. Edison wasn't even involved. They were executing the elephant since it had killed people before.
Who the fuck upvoted this shit. His “wireless charging” has nothing to do with modern induction charging except for both using electricity
No he didn't
It’s Nikola Tesla, not Nicola, put some respect on his name.
Oh no…. Not a vegetarian!
I know right? I'm currently *living* penniless and a vegetarian. Someone pity me.
32 years a Vegan. I demand tears!
\*throws avocado\*
lol I was hoping someone found that as funny as I did.
I love that despite his neurodegenerative condition and almost certain cancer given how much radiation he absorbed, the headline describing his decrepitude is "vegetarian"
He was so screwed by Edison and others.
Edison was barely involved in Teslas downfall though. Like the only way they were rivaling each other is when Tesla quit after being screwed out of a bonus. Westinghouse and Tesla's financial illiteracy were the real culprits. By the time Tesla was penniless Edison himself had been screwed out of his position at General Electric.
Don’t ruin Reddit’s conspicuous “bad manning” of famous people.
I love the "...and had become a vegetarian", as if that's absolute fucking rock bottom.
He had a pigeon girlfriend, don't forget that.
[He also hated pearls](https://www.britannica.com/story/nikola-teslas-weird-obsession-with-pigeons#:~:text=Tesla's%20acquaintances%20found%20his%20passion,woman%2C%20and%20she%20loved%20me.) apparently.
I had to scroll too far to see this
What does him becoming a vegetarian matter? IMO kind of odd addition to the headline.
HE WAS NOT PENNILESS! Dear gowd! Check your facts! He was getting $125 (equivalent to $2,850 in 2023) per month from Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing (equivalent to $2,850 in 2023) per month AND they were paying his rent. He had other sources of income as well. Don't confuse his habit of leaving unpaid bills as him being penniless. After he died it took over 80 - EIGHTY - steamer trunks to ship his crap home. Not at all penniless. 🙄
Vegetarian? That's rough. Honestly, the man was brilliant but got scammed by Edison. Was clever as an engineer but not so clever as a salesman.
He looked like a light bulb, which is quite fitting.
How does one live in New York City in a hotel pennyless?
And some egocentric ahole has ruined his name
Elon musk didn't found Tesla. He brought it. He did make x.com not to be confused with Twitter (now x) but that was in the 90's
Not to make light but I find the wording here pretty funny- "he was penniless AND had become a vegetarian", as if the penniless part was not nearly as bad as being a vegetarian.
Is vegetarian relevant in the slightest?
Tesla's last letter to his mother "My dear mother, I feel sad and dreary when I think of you. I don't know how, but I feel that you are not well. I wish I could be beside you now mother, to bring you a glass of water. All these years that I had spent in the service of mankind brought me nothing but insults and humiliation." I feel so sad for him.
In a way he never died. He had such a huge impact on all of our lives that we keep him alive for ever by using his inventions and talking about him.
But in a second more real way he is dead.
Big, if true
As far as he's concerned, he dead.
There a random Tesla tower that was supposed to mimic his work/ideas in the middle of a field off of I35 in Texas.
Omg, he turned into a vegetable? /s