Elon Musk Claims He Once Reached Out to Tim Cook About Tesla Purchase But Was Refused Meeting

[farewelwilliams]

You are underestimating China.

Tesla has been climbing the charts in China, not sure what you're talking about.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1340437495868084224

And there are plenty of hilarious stories about Tesla failing in just being a functional car, such as opening the doors or being able to replace a windshield. So that comment is in itself, well, hilarious.

Not as hilarious as:

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ktla.com

I see Tesla as the Myspace of electric cars. They look like they own the world, but in 10 years we will all be like “remember that crazy Elon guy that used to make cars?”

Going to be a sad sight for you when you see people driving these everywhere (or rather, the car is driving itself everywhere).

 

[samcheezay]

As a Tesla owner, this would've been interesting if it did happen.

For those who are bashing Tesla, you have to understand the fundamentals of Tesla's battery cell technology is actually really groundbreaking from a technical standpoint. If you haven't seen their battery day investor call, I suggest you do.

The FSD standpoint is still a long way to go, but significant improvement especially for those who are in the FSD beta that only a small handful of YouTube influencers are currently running on highway/city streets.

I'm not really sure if Apple can solve the battery/fsd platform but will be interesting. Competition is always good.

 

[dannyyankou]

Good. Apple does best when it develops its own hardware and software instead of buying and building on top of that.

One exception is fingerworks, which made the iPhone possible.

 

[wigby]

big blunder by Tim Cook. oof.

Cook dodged a bullet. Musk was being investigated by the SEC and would never have sold for 1/10 the value because he’s the CEO of Tesla. He’s just doing revisionist math, not real math. Meanwhile, Musk is on Twitter arguing battery chemistry against an unsubstantiated rumor. He looks like a rich fool which is the only thing worse than a fool.

 

[albebaubles]

It's a blunder because if you could go back in time, knowing what we know now, Tim would surely do things differently.

And at the very least take the meeting.

As proven by Muskies' tweet -- he can't keep his mouth shut, not Apple's style at all.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Cook dodged a bullet. Musk was being investigated by the SEC and would never have sold for 1/10 the value because he’s the CEO of Tesla. He’s just doing revisionist math, not real math. Meanwhile, Musk is on Twitter arguing battery chemistry with a rumor. He looks like a rich fool which is the only thing worse than a fool.

nope. Cook missed out on hundreds of talented engineers.

sounds like you just hate elon because he's elon and you're not thinking objectively.

BTW, that SEC investigation resulted in a settlement where Elon paying out $20 mil to SEC + $20 mil to Tesla in which he gained additional shares that are now worth much more than $40 mil he paid out.

 

[iFan]

We don't need another Beats fiasco.

Eh, at least financially Beats was a profitable purchase for Apple. We know this because they have never written it off. But yes there are problems with just about any acquisition, especially from a people perspective.

 

[ouimetnick]

Elon Musk says a lot of things that are false or turn out to be a stretch. I highly doubt he would have sold Tesla for 1/10th of its value.

Remember this is a strange man who named his child X Æ A-1 after an aircraft😂

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

I think Apple not purchasing Tesla will go down as one of the biggest mistakes in Apple's history. Their permanent magnet synchronous reluctance motor design is still unmatched by both performance and efficiency. And once the 4680 battery packs are in mass production, they'll be years ahead in battery tech too. This is all not accounting how far ahead they are in software, which I'd be willing to bet why Apple didn't purchase them, they probably felt they can do it better but they didn't expect Tesla software to get as good as it is.

I think hiring John Scully was one of the biggest mistakes in Apple history, this doesn’t come close. There were reports about Apple thinking of acquiring Tesla and decided not to. Which makes sense. Tesla was bleeding cash and I doubt Apple wants someone like Elon with his penchant for... controversy... becoming the face of their company. Now, if Tesla does succeed and becomes the Apple of cars, and Elon moves on to the greener pastures of Mars, I think a merger could be in order- say 10 years from now.

 

[dennislaska]

Sour grapes

 

[baryon]

About the monocell: A Lithium Ion battery cell has a voltage of ~3.7V. The motors in electric cars need hundreds of volts to produce the required torque and speed. Boosting 3.7V to say, 370V would be infeasibly inefficient and the amount of current drawn by the process would be astronomical. I mean literally in the range of thousands of Amps. No realistic cable can handle that, let alone microelectronics.

It's only possible to do this if there are multiple cells in series, adding up their voltages and reducing the overall current draw. By that math you'd need about a hundred cells in series, but you might get away with I dunno, 50? 30? Still a far cry from being able to call it a "monocell".

As a bonus, if the "monocell" is damaged, or has any kind of problem, you guessed it, the whole thing is trash in once piece. You can't replace individual cells because there are none. See MacBook batteries.

 

[iFan]

As proven by Muskies' tweet -- he can't keep his mouth shut, not Apple's style at all.

True he would not fit in with Apple, at all. Both companies have very different cultures and operating strategies. There would have been issues between Elon/Tim. Elon would have probably left.

There is a magic and mystique with Apple's style/marketing/PR, but there is also a refreshing and down to earth approach in Tesla who spends zero on advertising, has no PR department, and has a CEO that interacts with fans on twitter for feedback. It's why I own stock in both. Both can be successful.

 

[farewelwilliams]

His Auto driving won't work. Auto driving will require smart roads. Smart roads demand 5G and above. Not happening soon.

It's already working. Private beta was released a couple months ago.

You're not going to redo the world's road infrastructure to make them "smart roads". Never going to happen.

 

[albebaubles]

Eh, at least financially Beats was a profitable purchase for Apple. We know this because they have never written it off. But yes there are problems with just about any acquisition, especially from a people perspective.

Valid point and I was certainly thinking from the people perspective. Apple made Dre a billionaire. Dealing with the devil.

edit -- My opinion only

 

[iFan]

You either don't follow Apple as you stated or you're making this nonsense up. Over the past 4-5 years Apple has become the top company with over 2 trillion in valuation, and they did that without a car or a Netflix, or the pandemic.

Apple is the largest stock in my portfolio, I'm a former employee, and I've listened to every conference call going back 15 years.

Apple's revenue peaked with the growth in China around 2015 until this year. The stock growth is separate, because EPS grew from stock buybacks. A valuation can grow without the revenue growing. Please re-read my original statement.

I'm bullish on Apple's revenue growth for 2021 (I think it'll be above 20%) - but my original statement still stands about flat revenue for years. During this period, Tim was smart and changed the business model to focus more on services and subscriptions, while iPhone units stagnated and declined. Brilliant approach.

 

[Cosmosent]

No, Apple doesn't NEED Tesla. But the point of buying an established company in an industry that you want to enter is to get into the market faster. You pay a premium to move more quickly. Let's say the rumor is true and Apple starts making a small amount of cars in 2024, it will take them many years to ramp up production to get to a meaningful amount (to move the needle on Apple's overall revenue.) Maybe as long as 2030.

Had Apple purchased Tesla, and Tesla continues to grow production at a 50% rate (as they have historically), Apple would have a meaningful revenue number as early as 2023.

Tim Cook has been a fantastic CEO and run Apple incredibly well. I think Apple's leadership team is the best, most consistent, and most stable in the entire world. However, I think it was a mistake for Apple to not purchase a content company sooner (they almost definitely will have to soon, maybe MGM) and also an electric car company such as Tesla.

I see it differently.

I see Apple being envious of projected P/E numbers of certain other companies, & wanting the same.

First, it was Netflix.

Now, it's Tesla.

How has the first turned-out ?

We'll, Apple has had the benefit of certain AAPL Cheerleaders who masquerade as so-called Pro Stock Analysts; you know them by their last names, Munster, Ives, Huberty, & yes, even Cramer.

Apple got the price expansion benefit without having to deliver WRT number one.

I personally think they think they should simply Roll the Dice & see if it happens again.

As someone who knows the car market extremely well, I would say Apple's chances of success are less than 10% !

Mercedes, in particular, impresses me the most right now, as one of the legacy car companies transitioning to become a Tesla competitor.

Can Apple compete against Mercedes ? NO WAY !

And there are so many others transitioning into the space, that it will eventually be OVER-crowded !

Anybody remember the Race to the Bottom that happened with iPhone apps ?

Something similar could happen in Electric vehicles ! ... read that to mean Very Low Margins !

 

[farewelwilliams]

Tesla is going to get Dreamcasted when the Apple car appears. Elon might try dirty tricks because he is demented.

Jobs snubbed Elon too. Jobs could smell a rodent from a mile away.

Elon is a product guy. Tim isn't. Which type of CEO is going to win? Pretty sure it's the former.

 

[engg2000]

His Auto driving won't work. Auto driving will require smart roads. Smart roads demand 5G and above. Not happening soon.

It's already working. Lookup FSDBeta on youtube for footage.

 

[ani4ani]

That would have been interesting...a merger between one company who makes some of the most beautiful products and one who makes some, if not, the ugliest!

 

[jerryk]

I bet Cook would take a meeting with Musk today. The question is would Musk take a meeting with Cook.

 

[Cosmosent]

Apple is the largest stock in my portfolio, I'm a former employee, and I've listened to every conference call going back 15 years.

Apple's revenue peaked with the growth in China around 2015 until this year. The stock growth is separate, because EPS grew from stock buybacks. A valuation can grow without the revenue growing. Please re-read my original statement.

I'm bullish on Apple's revenue growth for 2021 (I think it'll be above 20%) - but my original statement still stands about flat revenue for years. During this period, Tim was smart and changed the business model to focus more on services and subscriptions, while iPhone units stagnated and declined. Brilliant approach.

Actually, if Cook hadn't moved the iPhone product line so far UP-scale, iPhone Unit Sales would have trended up past what it was for the iPhone 6 family intro !

The iPhone X should have been a One-Off, price-wise, NOT the start of something new.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Yes, Model S PLAID is performing better on the first sprint, but if you’re talking sustained power it’s Taycan hands down.

Sorry what? How do you know how Model S Plaid will perform with sustained power when it's not even out yet?

Model S Plaid is going to use Tesla's new structural battery system/battery cells which judging from the early laps at Laguna Seca, it can handle sustained power just fine.

 

[mdridwan47]

Nope. Smart move by Tim. Cash burning Tesla who’s only profit is related to selling electric vehicle credits to other auto companies which will go away. Stock price is irrational exuberance and does not correctly value Tesla fundamentals.

Tesla is Doomed!

 

[iFan]

I see it differently.

I see Apple being envious of projected P/E numbers of certain other companies, & wanting the same.

First, it was Netflix.

Now, it's Tesla.

How has the first turned-out ?

We'll, Apple has had the benefit of certain AAPL Cheerleaders who masquerade as so-called Pro Stock Analysts; you know them by their last names, Munster, Ives, Huberty, & yes, even Cramer.

Apple got the price expansion benefit without having to deliver WRT number one.

I personally think they think they should simply Roll the Dice & see if it happens again.

As someone who knows the car market extremely well, I would say Apple's chances of success are less than 10% !

Mercedes, in particular, impresses me the most right now, as one of the legacy car companies transitioning to become a Tesla competitor.

Can Apple compete against Mercedes ? NO WAY !

And there are so many others transitioning into the space, that it will eventually be OVER-crowded !

Anybody remember the Race to the Bottom that happened with iPhone apps ?

Something similar could happen in Electric vehicles ! ... read that to mean Very Low Margins !

I agree that Apple wouldn't have gotten the same PE expansion that Tesla and Netflix achieved on their own. That doesn't happen from acquisitions.

However, Apple is now spending tens of billions of dollars building up their content for the streaming division and researching cars for the autonomous/Project Titan division. In the end it will cost them as much as an earlier acquisition would have, and will take them longer to get market penetration. We only know this in hindsight, though. The Netflix/Tesla model could have failed, or Apple could have destroyed them with an acquisition like Microsoft did with most of theirs (Nokia, Skype, etc.)

I also personally don't think Mercedes or most of the traditional automakers are the true competitor to Tesla. I think new EV companies without the legacy debt/unions/dealership model will be the ultimate competitors to Tesla. Apple could achieve that organically within a decade. Amazon also has major investments in Rivian, etc. I know many won't agree with that statement, and that's fair, but that is my personal opinion.

Edit: I'll also note that it seems like the only traditional auto manufacturing spending the right amount of money and time on EV strategy is VW. They have their own hurdles politically and internally, but have a shot at being an EV leader.

 

[gugy]

big blunder by Tim Cook. oof.

Tim is highly intelligent and smart. I'm sure he had many reasons to avoid buying Tesla. There is a reason Steve Jobs picked him to lead and it shows. Apple is doing better than ever.