tesla claims he was offered us$50,000 (~ us$1.1 million in 2007, adjusted for inflation)[27] if he redesigned edison's inefficient motor and generators, making an improvement in both service and economy.[21]:54–57 tesla said he worked night and day on the project and gave the edison company several profitable new patents in the process. In 1885 when tesla inquired about the payment for his work, edison replied, "tesla, you don't understand our american humor," thus breaking his word.[28][29] earning a mere us$18 per week, tesla would have had to work for 53 years to earn the amount he was promised. The offer was equal to the initial capital of the company. Tesla then immediately resigned when he was refused a raise to us$25 per week.[30]
tesla, in need of work, eventually found himself digging ditches for a short period of time for the edison company. He saw the manual labor as a terrible job, but tesla used this time to focus on his ac polyphase system.[21]
