Did Edison really steal ideas from Tesla? - ProProfs Discuss
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Did Edison really steal ideas from Tesla?

Asked by F.William, Last updated: Jul 15, 2024

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5 Answers

Todd Gurley

Todd Gurley

Todd Gurley
Todd Gurley

Answered Jan 28, 2021

I really don't think Thomas Edison stole ideas from Tesla. Tesla and Edison were both great inventors during their time. According to history, Edison owned a company in France, Société Electrique Edison, where Tesla was working as an employee of Edison.

Tesla was able to gather a lot of knowledge about practical engineering and this helped him to know how AC motors truly work. However, due to his outstanding performance, Tesla caught the attention of one of the engineers at Edison's company in France, and he was transferred to work at another company of Edison in the United States.

During his six months stay in this company, he worked for the Edison Construction Department and was able to develop an arc lighting system. But due to some reasons, Edison decided not to use it. As a result, Tesla left the company and patterned with another company to sell the invention. Edison didn't steal Tesla's ideas because the arc lighting system was developed when Tesla was an employee of Edison.

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Leo Samuels

Leo Samuels

A good learner

Leo Samuels
Leo Samuels, Content Writer, PG, California

Answered Jan 22, 2021

The correct answer to this question is no, but many people believe the myth that he did steal from Tesla. The two inventors were around in the same era. They even had personal interaction with one another.

One of those interactions was when Tesla showed Edison his ideas about the electric current. When Edison reviewed these ideas, he brushed them away. This led Tesla to go to Westinghouse with his ideas and patented his famous ideas but not under Edison's company.

They did not steal from each other, but one thing that is for sure is that they are both influential inventors that made a powerful impact with their inventions.

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F. Daniel

F. Daniel

I work for a California based MNC.

F. Daniel
F. Daniel, Content Optimization Executive, Diploma in Journalism, California

Answered Jan 20, 2021

If you would type the surname “Edison,” you will be redirected to a lot of websites that will state a lot of details about Thomas Edison. He used to be considered one of the greatest inventors during his time. As the years passed by, however, people have started seeing some clues stating that he might have stolen a lot of ideas from another inventor at that time, Nikola Tesla.

The truth is that Nikola Tesla was able to pitch in some ideas but he never created a prototype for his ideas. This means that all of the prototypes that were done were already the doing of Thomas Edison.

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Ken Wilson

Ken Wilson

Want to learn new things and share my knowledge

Ken Wilson
Ken Wilson, Marketing Analyst, MBA, Miami

Answered Oct 31, 2018

This is a commonly held myth about poor Tesla who was as prolific an inventor as was Edison. They lived in the same era and their lives interacted. Tesla came to show his ideas about electric current to Edison who arrogantly brushed them away. However, Tesla took his ideas to Westinghouse and won the day.

Edison is more famous because of his network of influential people. Tesla made a lot of money and spent it on his Colorado Springs project. There are a lot of myths about the stealing of ideas but whatis true is that they were both great inventors. Perhaps Edison was less nice!

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M. Wright

M. Wright

M. Wright
M. Wright

Answered May 23, 2018

There is widespread debate about whether Thomas Edison stole ideas from Nikola Tesla. Tesla did work for Edison’s company in France for a few years and he also worked for Edison, at his Edison Machine Works company in the United States. His employment only lasted about six months. It has been reported that while employed by Edison, Tesla developed an arc lighting system but Edison chose not to use it.

Tesla was disappointed and quit “in disgust”. Tesla then independently patented his ideas but did not assign the patent to Edison’s company. As W. Carlson, author of the book “Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age” wrote, “who stole from whom?”

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