Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he once tried to get a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss a potential acquisition of Tesla.
Musk appeared critical of a report in Reuters that Apple was targeting the production of “next-level” car battery technology by 2024.
“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),” Musk tweeted. “He refused to take the meeting.”
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
Apple’s so-called Project Titan was established in 2014 and has been a shaky endeavor. The project was scaled back at one point from a full-car design to focusing on car software, and in 2019, nearly 200 people were laid off from the team.
Apple has kept Project Titan close to the vest, but the company reportedly “has progressed enough that it now aims to build a vehicle for consumers,” and the car could contain a battery design that relies on “monocell” technology that packs more active material inside that would give the car a longer range.
“Strange, if true,” Musk said. “A monocell is electrochemically impossible, as max voltage is ~100X too low. Maybe they meant cells bonded together, like our structural battery pack?”
Musk has acknowledged those “darkest days” in the past. Musk previously said the company had “made a lot of mistakes” during the mass production of the Model 3 sedan in 2018 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Since then, Tesla’s and Musk’s fortunes have shifted dramatically for the better. Year to date, the Telsa CEO’s wealth has grown by more than $127 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, surging his net worth to $155 billion. That surge propelled Musk to become the second-richest person in the world.
Musk and his companies have celebrated a number of successes this year, from launching NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on SpaceX rockets to announcing the Cybertruck Gigafactory in Texas — and most recently, Tesla stock’s admission to the S&P 500 index.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Apple for further comment.
