Tesla enjoys the throne of the most valuable automobile maker in the world, and thus, when news broke out that a competitor like Apple may be emerging soon, it’s no surprise that its founder Elon Musk took to Twitter to share his thoughts.
Soon after a report by Reuters claimed that Apple might be working on an EV, Musk said in a tweet that during difficult times for Tesla, he considered selling the pioneering automobile company and reached out to the Apple CEO Tim Cook for the proposition.
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020
Musk also made its abundantly clear that he is not a fan of Apple’s huge promises, which is reportedly working on breakthrough battery technology. ” A monocell is electrochemically impossible, as max voltage is ~100X too low. Maybe they meant cells bonded together, like our structural battery pack?” he said.
The early days of the production process for Tesla’s popular Model 3 were beset with problems, including bottlenecks that decelerated productions rates and led to undelivered promises.
Nevertheless, the company started making Model 3s in a tent, and began selling enough cars to attract an ultra-enthusiastic following in the stock market, giving Musk abundant capital to put to rest any idea that the company might go kaput.
In a previous tweet Musk said that Tesla once had “about a month” from bankruptcy during the Model 3 ramp-up, a detail that the company never disclosed in its quarterly filings.
It was an unusual disclosure from the unpredictable CEO that he once thought about giving up control of the company he helped build. Today, Tesla has a market value that’s more than the other top nine automakers combined. Moreover, the company has not discussed a sale in any financial filing.
Tesla and Apple have always contested for talent in and beyond Silicon Valley. In 2015, Musk called Apple the Tesla graveyard. “If you don’t make it at Tesla you go work for Apple,” he quipped then.
