Elon Musk wanted to be Apple's CEO once, but Tim Cook refused to meet him?

Tech billionaire Elon Musk wanted to be the next Apple CEO after he met Tim Cooks to discuss a proposal for Apple to acquire Tesla, a recently-launched book claimed. According to "Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century," a book by Wall  Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins, Elon Musk wanted to be the CEO of Apple if he agreed to sell Tesla to the tech giant. However the deal never went through since 'Cook dropped an expletive and hung up', Higgins wrote.

Elon Musk denies claims

With the sensational claims from the new book doing the rounds, Elon Musk clarified that no such conversation had taken place. The Tesla CEO however accepted that an Apple-Tesla deal was once in the talks, but Tim Cook had 'refused to meet him'. This was when Tesla was just a small name and only 6% of its value today. 

"Cook and 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 per cent of today’s value," Musk said on Twitter.

He also hit out at Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins saying that his book was not only boring but false.

Why Tim Cook refused to meet Elon musk

According to a Twitter thread by Elon Musk dated December 2020, during the darkest days of the Model 3 program, he had reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla. This was when the green-energy automobile giant was only 1/10th of its current value. However, Cook had refused to take the meeting.

Tim Cook has also denied ever meeting Elon Musk saying that he had 'great respect' for him. In an interview with New York Times journalist Kara Swisher in April 2021, the Apple CEO said, "You know, I’ve never spoken to Elon, although I have great admiration and respect for the company he’s built. I think Tesla has done an unbelievable job of not only establishing the lead but keeping the lead for such a long period of time in the EV space."