Elon Musk took to Twitter to deny reports that he once asked Tim Cook if he could replace him as CEO of Apple.
The story was published in a new book called “Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century” by Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins. According to the Los Angeles Times, which reviewed the new book, the conversation took place during a phone call between Musk and Cook in 2016 when Apple was reportedly considering buying Tesla.
According to the book, Musk told Cook that he wanted to be “CEO,” to which Cook said sure before realizing Musk meant CEO of Apple. The story goes that Cook responded to Musk by saying “f*ck you” before hanging up the phone.
Musk previously tweeted about reaching out to Cook for a meeting “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 wrote in December.
On Friday, Musk expanded on this alleged meeting between two of the world’s biggest tech CEOs, saying that the meeting never ended up happening.
“Cook & I have never spoken or written to each other ever,” he wrote on Twitter, responding to a user asking if any of the allegations made in “Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century” were true.
“There was a point where I requested to meet with Cook to talk about Apple buying Tesla. There were no conditions of acquisition proposed whatsoever. He refused to meet. Tesla was worth about 6% of today’s value.”
Cook & I have never spoken or written to each other ever.
There was a point where I requested to meet with Cook to talk about Apple buying Tesla. There were no conditions of acquisition proposed whatsoever.
He refused to meet. Tesla was worth about 6% of today’s value.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2021
Musk continues to have issues in the rollout of several new electric vehicles, announcing earlier this week that the Semi truck and the Cybertruck will be delayed.
Still, the company has reported strong growth in recent months, reporting $1.1 billion USD in quarterly profit.
