Can someone provide sources for the information? I’m not doubting it, just that relying solely on information from a meme without references is generally a bad idea

Well with Tesla, that was a lawsuit. He was being sued and due to the outcome, board members became co-founders. Legally Musk is considered a co-founder of Tesla.

And that’s exactly how newspapers should phrase it:

Musk, who won the right to be called a founder of Tesla in court, …

His base would applaud that he won that right