How Elon Musk Had Almost Sold Tesla To Google For $6 Billion Ten Years Ago
With a market cap of $564 billion and share price up more than 60% this year till date and nearly 870% up in last five years, Tesla has seen a significant growth in recent years. But about a decade ago in 2013, the Elon Musk led electric automaker was on the brink of bankruptcy and had only two weeks¡¯ worth of cash in the bank. The company was reportedly in such dire straits that it was ¡®almost¡¯ sold to Google for just $6 billion.
With a market cap of $564 billion and share price up more than 60% this year to date and nearly 870% up in the last five years, Tesla has seen significant growth in recent years. But about a decade ago in 2013, the Elon Musk-led electric automaker was on the brink of bankruptcy and had only two weeks¡¯ worth of cash in the bank.
Tesla Was Almost Sold To Google In 2013
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Tesla was reportedly in such dire straits in 2013 that it was ¡®almost¡¯ sold to Google for just $6 billion. As per a Bloomberg report, Elon Musk was on the verge of selling Tesla to Google in early 2013. Elon Musk and Google co-founder Larry Page were old friends, and Musk was able to work out some favourable terms for the deal.
As per the deal, Tesla would have been sold to Google for $6 billion, and Google would bankroll an extra $5 billion in capital expenditures for factory expansions and Musk would remain as CEO of Tesla for as long as eight years or until it produced its third-generation car.
The deal would have ensured that Tesla remained an independent brand until it produced an electric car that appealed to the mainstream market, as per TIME report.
Why Elon Musk Cancelled The Deal
But when Tesla and Google were close to inking the deal, Model S sales finally began to take off, and Tesla managed to earn a mammoth $11 million profit in the first quarter of 2013. That made Elon Musk no longer fear bankruptcy, and thus he called off the deal with Google.
google
Elon Musk Also Wanted To Sell Tesla To Apple
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Elon Musk revealed through a tweet in 2020 that during the ¡°darkest days¡± of Tesla¡¯s Model 3 rollout, he wanted to meet Tim Cook for a possible acquisition, but the latter 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 (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020
Click here to know why Apple CEO Tim Cook once rejected Elon Musk's offer to acquire Tesla.
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