Tesla is the most valuable automaker on the planet but as Elon Musk always reminds, it was not an easy path to success for the company. The EV maker struggled before making it big and Musk as CEO tried selling the firm if only to survive. But the buyer, which is Apple, he approached turned him down.
Musk made the revelation on social media and his claim is not exactly news. The Tesla boss has been clear in the past that it was hell during the early years of the automaker. Just recently, Musk admitted that Tesla was on the brink of bankruptcy, and that was during the ramping up of Model 3 production.
Supposedly, money was running out at that time and the best option for Tesla was to agree to a takeover. Apple was the automatic choice for Musk and it makes sense. The iPhone maker was on the hunt for innovation and it swimming with cash. It has to be a smooth and solid deal, Musk thought then.
So the Tesla chief tried reaching out to Tim Cook, and this maneuver aligned with the persistent rumors years ago that Tesla and Apple were negotiating for a possible merger, Electrek reported. The speculations, however, proved as mere rumors as Musk failed to get an audience with Apple's top honcho.
"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," Musk said on Twitter.
It was unclear when and how exactly the snub happened but as the records showed, Musk moved on and endeavored to pull things together for Tesla. The company was struggling to realize its numerous projects in the past, and now it remains struggling to process its explosive success.
Apple has yet to say a word on the story shared by Musk but Tesla now standing on solid ground seemed a strong argument that Cook made a bad call. The automaker is leading the way in the fast-growing electric vehicle industry and Apple is now playing catch up.
The "what if" scenario came out following the news that the Apple Car project has been revived and that a fully functional smart vehicle from Apple will roll out between 2024 and 2025, according to CNET.
Apple will reportedly employ breakthrough technologies with the Apple Car such as lithium-iron-phosphate batteries and self-driving software. But Musk reminded that Tesla has ongoing development on the mentioned Apple Car features and they are already in the advanced testing stage.
If the timeline suggested for the Apple Car debut is correct, then Tesla is likely to have already perfected the same technologies by the time Apple's smart car is ready to roll out, which is four to five years from now.
