As if Elon Musk isn’t running enough companies, he once may have suggested taking up as CEO of America’s most precious business, Apple.
Five years ago, within the midst of producing delays and other issues plaguing Tesla's planned Model 3 launch, Musk is claimed to possess had a call with Tim Cook during which the Apple (AAPL) CEO proposed buying Tesla. Musk said he'd roll in the hay , but on one condition: "I'm CEO." It reportedly took Cook a flash to understand Musk meant taking his job. That's consistent with a l. a. Times review of "Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and therefore the Bet of the Century," a forthcoming book by Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins, who covers Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA) and other tech companies. The review, published Friday, adds that Cook reportedly skilled Musk with an expletive and hung up the phone. For their part, Musk and Cook have denied ever chatting with each other . In December, Musk revealed on Twitter that he had considered selling Tesla to Apple but said he never actually talked with Cook. Replying to a report about Apple's plans to release a battery-powered, mass-market automobile, Musk said he reached bent Cook during the "darkest days of the Model 3 program" about acquiring Tesla "for 1/10 of our current value." "He refused to require the meeting," Musk said. Musk also denied that the interaction described within the book happened during a tweet on Friday, following the publication of the review . "Cook & I even have never spoken or written to every other ever," Musk said, adding that he had once requested a gathering with Cook to debate Apple buying Tesla, but that it didn't happen and "there were no conditions of acquisition proposed whatsoever." Higgins, the author, skilled Musk's Friday tweet saying the Tesla founder was given "plenty of opportunities" to discuss the anecdote. "This anecdote comes from Musk's own account of the conversation, consistent with people that heard the retelling at the time," Higgins tweeted. When asked about the book's claims, Apple directed CNN Business to an April interview Cook did with reporter Kara Swisher, who asked about Musk saying he refused a gathering . "You know," Cook responded, "I've never spoken to Elon, although I even have great admiration and respect for the corporate he's built." Musk and Cook were photographed sitting near each other — with only Oracle (ORCL) CEO Safra Catz between them — during a meeting with former President Donald Trump in December 2016. It's unclear if the 2 spoke. "Power Play" is about to be released on August 3.
