Elon Musk reportedly insisted on becoming Apple CEO in potential Tesla acquisition [Update: Musk Denies]

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is said to have once asked for his appointment as Apple CEO during a brief discussion about a potential acquisition with current Apple CEO Tim Cook. The claim appears in a new book titled “Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century”, as reviewed by The Los Angeles Times.

According to the book, during a 2016 phone call between Musk and Cook that raised the possibility of Apple buying Tesla, Musk told Cook that an Apple purchase of Telsa could only go forward if it doesn’t. ‘he became CEO of the combined company.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Tesla CEO Elon Musk are talking to each other on the phone. The 2016 make-or-break Model 3 unveiling is coming soon, but Tesla is in serious financial trouble. Cook has an idea: Apple buys Tesla.

Musk is interested, but on one condition: “I’m a CEO.”

Of course, says Cook. When Apple bought Beats in 2014, it retained the founders, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.

No, Musk said. Apple. Apple CEO.

“F — you,” Cook says and hangs up.

Elon Musk previously claimed that he had already contacted Tim Cook to “discuss the possibility of Apple buying Tesla.” Cook, according to Musk, declined to attend the meeting. The new book claims that although a meeting never took place, a phone call between the two CEOs did take place. It should be noted, however, that during an interview with The New York Times’ Kara Swisher in April, Cook said he had never spoken to Musk but had “great admiration and respect” for Tesla.

Update: In a tweet, Elon Musk denies the contents of the book, calling it both “bogus and boring”.

Update 2: Musk has shared another tweet explicitly denying that he and Cook have ever spoken or written to each other, reiterating his statements from months ago that he at one point requested a meeting with Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla but that Cook declined the meeting.