Elon Musk Had a Deal to Sell Tesla to Google in 2013

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
According to this Bloomberg article, Elon Musk almost sold Tesla to Google for $6 billion back in 2013. :eek:

He proposed that Google buy Tesla outright — with a healthy premium, the company would have cost about $6 billion at the time — and pony up another $5 billion in capital for factory expansions. He also wanted guarantees that Google wouldn’t break up or shut down his company before it produced a third-generation electric car aimed at the mainstream auto market. He insisted that Page let him run a Google-owned Tesla for eight years, or until it began pumping out such a car. Page accepted the overall proposal and shook on the deal.
Click to expand...
 
For six billion dollars Google could get into the log home business.

I know a guy who would sell... *cough*
 
Interesting read, I had no idea they were ever that close to insolvency. It reminds of when Apple was on the brink and then got Steve Jobs back after they forced him out and he righted the ship and then went on to unprecedented success.


"The company’s executives had also hidden the severity of the problem from the intensely demanding Musk. When he found out, he pulled staff from every department — engineering, design, finance, HR — into a meeting and ordered them to call people who’d reserved Teslas and close those sales. “If we don’t deliver these cars, we are f---ed,” Musk told the employees
Click to expand...

Musk fired senior executives, promoted hungry junior employees, and assigned former Daimler executive Jerome Guillen to fix Tesla’s repair service and get its glitchy cars back on the road. He also proposed what eventually became his public guarantee of the resale price of the Model S: Unsatisfied buyers would get their money back from Musk personally if they couldn’t sell their car at a price comparable to that of another luxury model.
Click to expand...
 
Haha, imagine if Google became a car company. They would probably have a discount if you let them paint " Google.Com " in big letters on the side of the car... :rolleyes:
 
Tweak42 said:
Interesting read, I had no idea they were ever that close to insolvency. It reminds of when Apple was on the brink and then got Steve Jobs back after they forced him out and he righted the ship and then went on to unprecedented success.
Click to expand...

Except Tesla isn't there. They have immense potential, but a lot of their current "success" is really just anticipation of the Model 3.
 
This is more like a turnaround, back-patting, success story thingy using the name Google as an excuse to get people interested in little no-name company that people would otherwise not ever hear about. It's pretty cool marketing to ride on the coattails of a more successful (though far more creepy) company.
 
Tweak42 said:
Interesting read, I had no idea they were ever that close to insolvency. It reminds of when Apple was on the brink and then got Steve Jobs back after they forced him out and he righted the ship and then went on to unprecedented success.
Click to expand...

It wasn't just Steve Jobs, he had to go to his old "friend" Bill Gates for Microsoft gave him a bailout. :p
 
NickJames said:
It wasn't just Steve Jobs, he had to go to his old "friend" Bill Gates for Microsoft gave him a bailout. :p
Click to expand...

A bailout did keep Apple afloat, however it was the decisions Jobs made which turned Apple around.
 
NickJames said:
It wasn't just Steve Jobs, he had to go to his old "friend" Bill Gates for Microsoft gave him a bailout. :p
Click to expand...

Apple fans like to forget that little fact. That and their default browser was IE as part of that deal for years. I watch the Mac Conference in Boston 1997 whenever I need cheering up.
 
Tweak42 said:
Interesting read, I had no idea they were ever that close to insolvency. It reminds of when Apple was on the brink and then got Steve Jobs back after they forced him out and he righted the ship and then went on to unprecedented success.
Click to expand...

They are likely still invester money away from it now. Image is everything and the media is kind by comparison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top