There have long been rumours that CEO Elon Musk had once tried to sell Tesla to Apple. Today Musk confirmed the rumour saying Tim Cook could have bought it for a basement bargain price.
According to Musk he reached out to his CEO counterpart during “the darkest days” of the Model 3 production ramp. Fortunately for Musk and for all Tesla owners today, Cook didn’t even accept the meeting, which was likely sometime in 2018.
What’s your worst decision ever? https://t.co/XBsoSom3a9
— Drive Tesla 🇨🇦 #FSDBetaCanada (@DriveTeslaca) December 22, 2020
Cook must be kicking himself for doing so, because Musk said he was willing to sell Tesla for 1/10 of its current value. With Tesla’s current market capitalization hovering just north of $600B, that means Cook could have bought Tesla for as little as $60B.
While it’s surprising to many that Musk once tried to sell Tesla, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it happened when it did. Musk has previously referred to the Model 3 ramp as “production hell”, even saying the company was within 30 days of bankruptcy at one point.
Musk’s comments follows renewed rumours that Apple is working on their own electric car with potentially groundbreaking battery technology. If the rumours are true, it is still a long way off and won’t be released until 2025 or later.
