Elon Musk Denies Story of Tim Cook Suggesting Apple Should Acquire Tesla

In a tweet sent out earlier today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has flat out denied the story that Tim Cook once suggested to Musk that Apple should acquire Tesla, and that Musk said he wanted to be CEO (via The Verge). “Cook & I have never spoken or written to each other ever,” he wrote.

Musk was given plenty of opportunities to comment on this. He didn’t. This anecdote comes from Musk’s own account of the conversation, according to people who heard the retelling at the time. https://t.co/GRKZRBsaeR

— Tim Higgins (@timkhiggins)

July 30, 2021

The story comes from “Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century” by The Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins. “According to a former aide who heard (Musk’s) retelling of the exchange,” Cook said “Fuck you” before hanging up the phone, the book notes.

Musk added in his tweet that he attempted to meet with Cook about Apple acquiring Tesla, a meeting that Cook refused. “He refused to meet. Tesla was worth about 6% of today’s value,” Musk wrote.

When asked for comment about the reported conversation, Apple pointed to remarks Cook made during an interview with The New York Times’ Kara Swisher where he denied having ever spoken to Elon. “You know, I’ve never spoken to Elon, although I have great admiration and respect for the company he’s built,” Cook said.

Musk also said that much of the book is false. “Higgins managed to make his book both false *and* boring,” he tweeted.