CEO of Tesla Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk NASA selects the next Artemis moonwalkers as SpaceX pilots a spaceship SpaceX rocket explodes on impact after test flight, Musk still declares it’s a success virus control in limbo MORE said Tuesday that he once considered selling Tesla to Apple, but claimed CEO Tim Cook “declined” to hold a meeting to discuss the sale.
Musk’s comments on sales during the “darkest days of the Model 3 program,” referring to Tesla’s first electric car designed for the mass market, was in response to a report on Apple’s goals to market its own self-driving cars 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). He declined to attend the meeting, ”Musk tweeted.
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 declined to attend the meeting.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020
Tesla reportedly struggled to turn a profit and meet its automotive production targets in 2017 and 2018, but has since delivered a string of quarterly profits.
Tesla’s stock is up 665 percent this year, making it the world’s most valuable automaker. It is one of the top 10 US companies in the S&P 500 index, according to The Associated Press.
Apple unveiled its efforts to develop self-driving automotive technology to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2016. The tech giant told the agency it “invested heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems.”
Two unnamed sources familiar with Apple’s plans told Reuters that the tech giant is aiming to bring its self-driving car to market in four years and that it could include a new battery design optimized for longer range.
An Apple spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.