As an employee, yes. Edison hired Tesla when he first arrived in the US, and told him to improve the efficiency of his DC dynamo by a certain percentage (can't remember the details). Edison allegedly offered Tesla $50,000 if he could do it, apparently thinking it was impossible. But just a few months later, Tesla presented him with the improvements and test data, then asked for the money. Edison allegedly told him it was an offer made in jest, and said something to the effect of "you'll understand once you have become a full fledged American", at which Tesla promptly quit in contempt, an opinion they both held for each other thereafter. I think I read somewhere that right up to the end of his life, Tesla believed Edison still owed him that money.
"You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals" -- Booker T. Washington
