Last year, multiple analysts recommended that Apple buy Tesla to make a bold push into the auto industry. As it turns out, the Cupertino, Calif. may have given that idea a little more thought than some assumed.
Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions, Adrian Perica, met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk by Apple's Cupertino headquarters last spring, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, citing an anonymous source. The newspaper also reported that Musk likely met with Apple CEO Tim Cook at that time.
It's unclear whether Apple's team talked to Musk about a possible acquisition, a partnership or the lovely California weather. Apple and Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Steve Jobs, Apple's late co-founder and CEO, reportedly once seriously considered designing a connected car, a concept some have since referred to as the iCar. Since then, some analysts have suggested that Apple use a fraction of its massive cash pile to buy Tesla, an electric-car manufacturer worth nearly $25 billion, to break into the space.
Even so, the idea of Apple acquiring Tesla remains far-fetched. At the time the meeting between Percia and Musk reportedly took place, Tesla was enjoying a string of successes, including completing its first-ever profitable quarter, and repaying a government loan nine years early. Meanwhile, Apple has begun work to integrate apps like Siri and Apple Maps into cars.
Tesla is sometimes referred to as the Apple of the car world, and the automaker has hired several employees from Apple over the years. Musk himself is viewed as a visionary in the same vein as Jobs, which might be an enticing prospect to some Apple investors; but he's also a serial entrepreneur who wouldn't likely settle at a massive corporation such as Apple.
A more plausible theory, put forward by Seth Weintraub at 9to5Mac, is that Apple may be looking to invest in Tesla's battery production efforts, which could be useful for the tech giant's existing and future products.
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