Elon Musk馬斯克曾邀Tim Cook會面 討論Apple Inc.收購Tesla
一本8月10日出版的新書稱，美國太空探索技術公司（SpaceX）和電動汽車生產商特斯拉（Tesla）創辦人馬斯克（Elon Musk）說過，他曾想與蘋果公司（Apple Inc.）行政總裁庫克（Tim Cook）討論收購特斯拉的可能性，不過當馬斯克提出一個條件，令庫克「爆粗」兼「cut線」。
新書《以多打少：特斯拉、馬斯克以及世紀賭注》（Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century，暫譯）稱，馬斯克2016年在一通電話中對庫克說，要求成為蘋果公司的行政總裁。
此書由《華爾街日報》記者Tim Higgins撰寫。
書中寫道，庫克建議說，由蘋果公司收購Tesla，馬斯克則回應道，他想成為行政總裁。庫克同意，但馬斯克澄清說，他想當的是蘋果公司的行政總裁。
Tim Higgins是引述一名聽過馬斯克複述事件的助理所講，將此事寫入書中。
書中指出，庫克聽罷馬斯克的要求後，在掛斷電話前說了一句「去你的！」（Fxxk you）
圖為蘋果公司（Apple Inc.）行政總裁庫克（Tim Cook）（Reuters）
馬斯克及蘋果公司稱，這對話不可能發生，因兩人從未對話。
馬斯克在社交媒體推特（Twitter）否認此事：「我和庫克從來沒有交談過，也沒有通過信。」他稱曾想與庫克見面，討論蘋果公司收購特斯拉的事情，但無提出任何收購條件。馬斯克稱庫克拒絕會面。他在推文補充說：「當時特斯拉的價格約為今天的6%。」
Cook & I have never spoken or written to each other ever.
There was a point where I requested to meet with Cook to talk about Apple buying Tesla. There were no conditions of acquisition proposed whatsoever.
He refused to meet. Tesla was worth about 6% of today’s value. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2021
馬斯克2020年12月說過類似的事，稱2017年曾考慮將公司售予蘋果公司，但庫克不肯談。
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. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020
馬斯克評論Tim Higgins的新書稱，他能將此書寫得這麼假及悶。
So @tim_cook said he never spoke to @elonmusk, Musk said Cook refused to take the meeting, yet the book says they spoke and had this interaction. — Mark Gurman (@markgurman) July 30, 2021
Tim Higgins則說，曾給予蘋果公司及馬斯克很多機會，讓他們在新書出版前評論內容，但他們都拒絕。
Tesla成立於2003年，是一家電動汽車及其相關技術的開發商和製造商。除了電動汽車之外，還生產電池和電動機，並售予其他汽車公司，例如豐田和戴姆勒（Daimler）。
Elon Musk: ‘I don’t want to be CEO of anything’
A new book is coming out about the Tesla CEO. One story is that in 2016 - when Tesla was in trouble - Musk reached out to Apple’s Tim Cook, who he thought might want to buy the company.
Elon Musk Tweeted Some Big Personal News. Now, Nobody Wants to Talk About It
You learn a lot when you scroll through the many tweets of Elon Musk.
You learn for example, that he thinks Apple’s app store fees amount to a global tax on the Internet. And you learn that he claims never to have spoken with Apple CEO Tim Cook, despite reports to the contrary.
You learn that despite being the CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla, and being actively involved in several other companies, he’d really rather not be a CEO at all.
The attention I’ve paid to Musk on Twitter might not be all that surprising, since I wrote an entire ebook about Musk called Elon Musk Has Very Big Plans (which you can download here for free).
Yet, I’ve been stuck on one thing in particular that we learned exactly 53 days ago from one of his tweets.
It’s the tweet in which Musk said, in response to another Twitter user’s comment:
“My primary home is literally a ~$50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that I rent from SpaceX. It’s kinda awesome though.”
Musk also said he’d sold every other home he’d once owned, save one that he used for events.
As a centi-billionaire, Musk could live literally almost anywhere he chooses on the planet. So, the announcement that he’s living in a home that’s worth less than the price of a Tesla Model 3 with the performance upgrade struck people as a big personal revelation for him.
Sleuths did some sleuthing after he made that unusual claim, and they deduced that he must be referring to a roughly 400-square-foot manufactured home built by a company called Boxabl, which was in turn founded by a father-and-son team: Paolo Tiramani, and Galiano Tiramani.
In fact, in a video that the company posted on YouTube last year, the younger Tiramani offered a tour–and he explained that the house had been delivered for “a top-secret customer” in Boca Chica.
Now, when I first wrote about this a few weeks ago, I was careful to use the words “almost certainly,” because Musk never actually mentioned the company by name, and because in interviews that I came across, the Tiramanis would never quite confirm that Musk is their customer.
So, I did three things.
First, I scoured everything I could find to see if Musk has addressed this elsewhere. If so, I’ve missed it.
Then, I reached out to him – where else? – on Twitter, asking if he’d confirm 100 percent, that he lives in the Boxabl house in the video.
Alas, no reply.
Finally, I asked Paolo Tiramani of Boxabl to sit down for a video interview last week, and I peppered him with questions – politely, but persistently – to see what he’d say about Musk.
For example:
Me: “I’m just going to ask you directly. Can you confirm what everybody else has taken right up to the half-yard line on the football field? Elon Musk is living in this. Right?
Tiramani: “Outstanding first hardball question. Terrific. And, I’m not at liberty to talk about that at the moment. … I would love to be frank. … I’m just not at liberty to talk about it right now.
And later:
Me: “Have you ever met Elon Musk?”
Tiramani: “I can’t answer any of that.”
Me: “A lot of people have met Elon Musk. … You know, I’m going to just keep trying.”
Tiramani: “Go for it.”
I used to be a trial attorney, so I enjoyed this friendly foray down cross-examination memory lane. (The video is embedded at the end of this article.)
But I wonder: Why not close the loop? It’s not just Paolo Tiramani declining to confirm, by the way; his son and cofounder, Galiano Tiramani, offered little more than “no comment” in two other interviews I found ( here and here), when asked about Musk’s involvement.
So, we’re left to speculate.
Maybe it has something to do with Boxabl’s ongoing capital raise, which was originally referenced in SEC filings back in January.
Maybe there’s an NDA, and even though Musk tweeted about his supposed living arrangements, perhaps Boxabl still isn’t free – or doesn’t know whether it’s free – to disclose.
Maybe it has to do with Musk’s personal life; he’s a father, most recently welcoming a son last year with his partner, the Canadian musician Grimes. Not that you’d expect Musk’s home life to be that of a typical dad, but it’s a factor to consider.
Of course, without 100 percent confirmation, there’s always the chance that we’ve all somehow been taken for a ride or misunderstood. I hope not, for several reasons.
Anyway, here’s what Paolo Tiramani did tell me:
First, the Boxabl home on site in Boca Chica is literally the company’s first. “It’s a prototype,” he said, “not even a production model, that is out for field evaluation.”
Next, Boxabl now has a 170,000-square foot warehouse in Las Vegas, from which it hopes to manufacture units. The company has taken between 40,000 and 50,000 preorders, although only a smaller number – “between 5 to 10 percent” of preorders – included financial deposits.
Finally, he said, Boxabl is currently focused on fulfilling its first big contract, to build 156 homes “in the coming months” for the U.S. military.
Tiramani said he’s restricted from saying exactly which agency, but that it’s “for a situation that’s very much in the national consciousness, a national tragedy, actually.”
So, again we’re left to speculate: Military housing? Homelessness? Better temporary housing for immigrants detained at the border?
Your guess is as good as mine. But, even if that’s a bit frustrating, I think this all illustrates why the concept is intriguing.
The secret sauce that the Tiramanis tout is twofold. First, that Boxabl’s homes should be able to be mass-produced in factories, and second, that their pre-assembled dimensions are basically the exact size of a shipping container.
This would mean they can be delivered using existing infrastructure: on trucks, trains, and ships.
Given the fairly low price point–they say $50,000 for the studio-sized prototype, plus land and assembly costs–if Boxabl and any inevitable competitors were able to scale, you can imagine the effects it might have on the housing market.
Regardless of Musk’s involvement, it’s an interesting idea–whether he turns out to be an investor, a customer, or just a guy who tweets about the company.
Still, it would be awfully interesting to know for sure.
Until then, I guess we’re stuck monitoring his Twitter–learning what kind of computer he uses, when he last showered, and whether he feels as though he’s racing against the clock of his own mortality.
(Answer on that last one: “Yup.")