Apple Tried To Buy Tesla In 2013, Says Senior Research Analyst

Apple has been said to have its fingers in different versions of its own self-driving car-shaped pie for longer than we can remember, with nothing to show for it so far. But it could have all been so different, with a new report claiming that Apple tried to buy Tesla at a inflated price all the way back in 2013.

The new report courtesy of Craig Irwin, senior research analyst at Roth Capital Partners who spoke with CNBC, has Apple testing the water at $240 per share way back when. Predictably, he wasn’t willing to say where he got that information.

Around 2013, there was a serious bid from Apple at around $240 a share. This is something we did multiple checks on. I have complete confidence that this is accurate. Apple bid for Tesla. I don’t know if it got to a formal paperwork stage, but I know from multiple different sources that this was very credible. So right now, Apple is building multiple, very large dry rooms in California. What does that mean? They’re doing something interesting and exciting on the battery side. Project Titan is absolutely not dead. If Apple had interest then, they would probably have interest now at the right price, and I expect there are other technology companies that would also step in.

Tesla is now in the middle of a cash crunch and Irwin believes there is still an interest from Apple. Could the iPhone maker fix all of its car problems by simply buying Tesla? Who knows, but if there are two companies who live on the edge of what’s technically possible while charging a small fortune for it, Apple and Tesla are definitely them.

The only real problem with that suggestion for us is whether Tesla’s Elon Musk would fit inside Apple, especially given his propensity for Twitter tirades. It’s not really Tim Cook’s style, is it?

(Source: CNBC [YouTube])

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