In the late 2010s, Tesla teetered on the edge of crisis. The company’s bold bet on mass-market electric vehicles (the Model 3) had plunged it into what Elon Musk would later describe as “production hell.” Costs were spiraling, timelines were slipping, and investors were growing nervous. For a brief moment, Musk considered the unthinkable.
In 2020, Musk casually dropped a bombshell on Twitter: during Tesla’s darkest hour, he reached out to Apple CEO Tim Cook to discuss a possible acquisition. The idea was simple: Apple could take over Tesla for a fraction of what it’s worth today – Musk even floated a tenth of its current value. But, according to Musk, Cook refused to take the meeting.
“During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla,” Musk tweeted. “He refused to take the meeting.”
No one saw it coming. Apple had long been rumored to be working on an electric car under its secretive Project Titan. Tesla, for its part, had become the face of EV innovation, albeit a volatile one. A merger could have fundamentally reshaped the future of transportation.
Tesla’s “Production Hell”
The backstory is key. In 2018, Tesla was bleeding cash – burning over $700 million per quarter at one point. The company’s goal was to ramp up production of the Model 3, its first affordable electric sedan. But automation glitches, supply chain snags, and management turnover pushed Tesla to the brink.
Elon Musk described the experience as “excruciating.” He admitted to working 120-hour weeks and sleeping on the factory floor. “There were times when I didn’t leave the factory for three or four days – days when I didn’t go outside,” he told the New York Times.
While the public saw the charismatic CEO making bold promises on Twitter, behind the scenes, Tesla was desperate for a way out.
Apple: The Silent Suitor
Apple was no stranger to car ambitions. Reports of Project Titan date back to 2014, though the project has gone through several resets and leadership changes. At the time Musk reached out, Apple was flush with cash and still seeking its next major product category.
But Apple’s interest in the auto industry has always been cautious. Unlike Tesla, Apple is a perfectionist company that prefers to enter markets only when it can tightly control every element of the user experience- and when the business case is clear. Cook’s decision to ignore Musk’s offer may have been a reflection of this ethos: if Apple couldn’t own the entire experience, it wasn’t interested.
Still, the idea of Apple acquiring Tesla wasn’t far-fetched. Analysts at the time speculated that such a deal could give Apple instant dominance in the EV market. And with Tesla trading at a fraction of its future valuation, the acquisition would have been a relative bargain.
What Could Have Been
Had Apple bought Tesla, the landscape of the tech and auto industries might look very different today. Would we now be driving iCars with iOS dashboards? Would Elon Musk have stayed on to run Apple’s automotive division – or walked away entirely? Would Apple have shelved Tesla’s more radical innovations in favor of its own conservative design philosophy?
We’ll never know. What’s clear is that by 2020, Tesla had pulled off one of the most dramatic turnarounds in corporate history. Production stabilized, demand surged, and the company’s market cap exploded – at one point surpassing $1 trillion. Meanwhile, Apple still hasn’t shipped a car.
A Missed Call with Long-Term Consequences
There’s a certain irony to the story. Elon Musk, known for his boundless ambition and often brash style, was once willing to sell his flagship company to Apple for what now seems like spare change. Tim Cook, known for discipline and restraint, declined to even take the call.
Both stuck to their instincts. And today, both companies remain at the forefront of global tech – but in very different ways.
As for Musk, the failed outreach to Apple has become just another strange footnote in his unpredictable career. But it also underlines one of his greatest strengths: a willingness to pivot, ask for help, or make a deal – even when ego might suggest otherwise.
In the end, Tesla didn’t need a lifeline. But for a brief moment in 2018, it almost became Apple’s greatest acquisition and biggest “what if.”
