Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, said he once considered selling the electric car maker to Apple, but the iPhone maker’s CEO rejected the meeting.
In a tweet Tuesday, Musk said he contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook “to discuss Apple’s ability to acquire Tesla (for a tenth of our current value). He refused to take the meeting. “
Tesla’s market value is $ 616 billion since Tuesday’s close. One-tenth of that is $ 61.6 billion.
Musk said he was looking to meet Cook “in the darkest days of the Model 3 program,” a reference to Tesla’s first mass-market electric car. In 2018, Tesla was striving to meet its vehicle production targets and make a profit.
Tesla’s fortune has changed since then. Finally, the carmaker makes money consistently after years of losses and continues to reach milestones for the deliveries of its vehicles. Its shares rose 665% this year alone, making it the world’s most valuable automaker and one of the top 10 U.S. companies in the S&P 500, which Tesla entered on Monday.
Musk’s tweet followed published reports suggesting that Apple was working on developing its own electric cars.
Apple declined to comment.