autoevolution
 

Elon Musk Is Amused by the Idea of Apple Buying Tesla

Wouldn't this be the equivalent of Brad Pitt marrying Angelina Jolie? Can you imagine the combined coolness of Tesla and Apple coming together one way or another? The simple idea is probably giving fanboys of both brands the goosebumps.
Elon Musk 1 photo
Photo: Dan Taylor/Heisenberg Media
Well, we're not so sure Elon Musk would be too crazy about it, though. And that's because the only way the two giants could become one is if Apple decided to buy Tesla.

No matter how much Tesla has grown over the past four years (its value has increased tenfold, if you need to ask), it's still only a sardine compared to the shark that is Apple. The Cupertino company now has a cash reserve of over a quarter of a trillion dollars. That's $256.8 billion, to be exact, ready to be spent at any time.

And what could Apple do with that money? If it took part in a beauty pageant, the answer would probably be "save the world and put an end to poverty and hunger," but since Apple's single goal is to make even more capital, the real one might vary a little.

Despite never graduating from the rumor level, Apple is believed to have tried and failed to enter the car industry with its Titan project, now reshuffled to focus solely on car connectivity and self-driving technology. If that interest is still present, the IT giant might be tempted to take the shortcut and buy an already established name, especially since Tesla's market cap revolves around a mere $46 billion.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adan Jonas did the math and took advantage of Tesla's earnings conference call two days ago to pop the question. Elon Musk was visibly amused, but apart from implying there's no reason to talk about something like this, he didn't have much to say.

Here is how the conversation went about, as reported by BGR: Adan Jonas: "Apple has enough net cash I think to buy Tesla, like more than three times over. Is there anything that Apple does or has, besides having more money than they know what to do with, that could be helpful in Tesla’s mission to accelerate the transition to shared autonomy and sustainable transport? Could they be the type of firm you could partner with, and is this something you could talk to Tim about?"

Elon Musk: "Yeah, I don’t think they want to have that conversation,” Musk answered. “At least I’ve not heard any indication that they do. Obviously Apple continues to make some great products and, yeah, I mean, I use their phone and their laptop, it’s cool. I mean… I don’t know what else to say
.”

We don't know what car Tim Cook is driving, but we're pretty sure that if it's an electric, it has to be a Tesla. So even though the gap in the companies' value is so great, when it comes to their CEOs using each other's products, it's a draw.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Vlad Mitrache
Vlad Mitrache profile photo

"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories