— Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to take a meeting years ago to discuss acquiring Tesla, Elon Musk said on Tuesday.
In 2017 Tesla burnt cash as it ramped up output of its mass-market Model 3. Musk told employees then at the company’s Fremont, California, plant that it faced a period of “production hell” for six months or longer. Weeks after making that statement, he tweeted about sleeping on the roof of the factory as he tried to resolve bottlenecks.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment on Musk’s remarks. Tesla did not reply to a request for a comment on the timing of the offer Musk described. Bloomberg News reported earlier this month that Apple shifted leadership of its car project to John Giannandrea from former top engineer Bob Mansfield, indicating its self-driving technology and artificial intelligence focus.