How we know Tesla today could have changed significantly just a couple of year sago.
According to a new book titled “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,” author Ashlee Vance reports that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had nearly agreed to a deal with Google CEO Larry Page to sell the American electric automaker to the tech giant.
Back in March 2013, Tesla was hurting for cash and its future wasn’t looking as bright as it does today. As a result, Musk approached Page to strike up a deal that proposed Google buy Tesla outright for about $6 billion while investing another $5 billion in capital for factory expansions, claims Vance. In addition, Musk would stay on board as CEO and Google wouldn’t be allowed to complete the launch of the Model S and the Model X until the third, more mainstream Model III was complete.
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Musk would have stayed on board as Tesla CEO for at least eight more years if Google acquired the company and all of those terms were approved by Page, who told the book “a car company is pretty far from what Google knows.” Fast forward a mere two months to May 8 and that’s when Tesla delivered an earnings report that put it in the black, albeit through its own accounting practices. Regardless, the figures were good enough to see the company’s stock skyrocket going from $59.50 on May 6 to $76.76 at the end of the week Friday. Over the last year, Tesla’s stock has reached as high as $281.42 but is now closer to the $200 mark.
After turning the corner, Musk contacted Google’s Page and called off the deal. Now, Google is working on its own autonomous car and Tesla is also investing into self-driving technologies.
The book will be released on May 19.
[Source: The Detroit Bureau]
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