Elon Musk Reveals Apple CEO Refused Talks To Acquire Tesla At $60 Billion

Musk considered the possibility of selling Tesla to Apple for one-tenth of its current value, indicating a valuation of about $60 billion.

(File Photo/ Getty)

Tesla founder Elon Musk, who is known for courting controversies in the microblogging site Twitter has now revealed that the Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook declined for a meeting years ago to discuss acquiring Tesla Inc. Musk, who had founded several companies, took to his Twitter account revealing that he reached out to Apple on a possible deal during the "darkest days" at the development stage of the company's Model 3. Also Read: Apple's Self-Driving Car May Hit Market In 2024. Check Details At that point in time, Musk considered the possibility of selling Tesla to Apple for one-tenth of its current value, indicating a valuation of about $60 billion. In 2017, the electric car company had burned cash as it ramped up output of its mass-market Model 3 electric vehicle. Musk conveyed to employees about facing a period of "production hell" for six months or longer. In fact weeks after revealing that phase, he also tweeted about sleeping on the roof of a factory as he tried to resolve bottlenecks. "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", tweeted Musk.

Tesla founder faced flak in 2018 when Musk tweeted he had “funding secured" to take the company private. As a consequence, he agreed to pay $20 million to settle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission but still faces an investor lawsuit. It was during that time that Apple decided to shift focus from being Tesla competitor to developing self-driving car system. In recent years, Apple has hired a number of ex-Tesla executives who specialize in drive train, car interior and self-driving technology. It has also acquired companies that specialize in self-driving car development, indicating that the company is once again considering entering the market. Shares of Apple and Tesla have surged since the 2017. Tesla has gained more roughly 1,400% -- but is still worth less than a third of Apple's market capitalization, as per Bloomberg.