- Elon Musk tweeted that Apple refused to buy Tesla.
- Musk also mocked Apple for copying its tech.
- Tesla would be sold at 1/10 of its current value.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk wanted to share a fascinating bit of insider data. He wanted to share after a Reuters report that Apple had recovered Project Titan, aka the ‘Apple Car’.
Elon wanted to sell Tesla to Apple
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday that in recent years, he was considering selling his electric car business to Apple. But Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, was not even interested in having a meeting.
Musk in a tweet on December 22, quotes:
“During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.”
Musk also made statements regarding the phosphate lithium batteries containing iron. According to a Reuters article on Monday, Apple is reportedly developing similar technology for use in cars. He explained that for medium-range vehicles made in its Shanghai plant, Tesla already uses iron-phosphate. And a mono cell is electrochemically impractical, as the maximum voltage is too low at ~100X.
Musk also taunted Apple by stating that perhaps Apple meant cells that were linked, like their proprietary structural battery pack.
It was a remarkable admission from the mercurial CEO that the organization he founded once considered giving up control. And, at present, it has a market valuation that is more than the combined top nine automakers. In any financial filing, Tesla did not mention a deal.
Tesla vs Apple
In 2018, Musk publicly said that the car industry was “hell,” and that he was sleeping in the factory to try to fix the company’s problems as it attempted to launch mass-production of its Model 3 electric sedans.
He also said earlier, in a tweet, that Tesla had once struggled for around a month during the Model 3 ramp-up. However, the information was in its quarterly filings but the company never reported it.
In and beyond Silicon Valley, Tesla and Apple have always fought for talent. Musk named Apple the graveyard of Tesla in 2015. If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go to work with Apple, then Musk jokes.
