Rumor: Apple buying Tesla

[Steph]

In a Business wire press release this morning, they were mention of rumors of Apple buying Tesla.

No mention on where the rumors are coming from.

This would be a very important event if ever Apple confirm they are thinking about it!

So that's why I tought of starting a post so we can find sources for these rumors and post links here. If you find something. You would be a darling if you post it here.

 

[AnOutsider]

Apple has a lot of spare cash, but enough to make Elon willing to sell? Can't see it. They don't even have Steve at the helm anymore, so I wonder what Tesla would really get? Better UI on the computer? They already have GeorgeB...

 

[Steph]

Apple has a lot of spare cash, but enough to make Elon willing to sell? Can't see it. They don't even have Steve at the helm anymore, so I wonder what Tesla would really get? Better UI on the computer? They already have GeorgeB...

Article is here:NVMN: New Buzz for AAPL Possibly Buying Tesla Further Highlights Critical Lithium Shortage - MarketWatch

I dont really want to start a discussion on the pros and cons about the possible transactions but to find sources for these rumors and then discuss about if they are credible or not.

 

[richkae]

I think it is 100% fabricated to gain attention and boost the stock price of NVMN. Look it worked.

 

[mikevbf]

I would say it is just a rumor leveraging Apple's and Tesla's buzz to booster a mining company's stock. Very clever.

 

[mikevbf]

I think it is 100% fabricated to gain attention and boost the stock price of NVMN. Look it worked.

You beat me to it rich.

 

[SCW-Greg]

Exactly what Rich says... that and often times headlines like that are just used to drum up traffic to some news/blogger site - to help with Google Ad impressions on their site, etc.

 

[VolkerP]

What would be the difference?

Driver: "Open the frunk."
Tesla Model S: click, whirr.
HAL: "I'm afraid, Dave, that I cannot do that"
Siri: "Tell me what a frunk is. It sounds interesting."
Apple technical documentation: "You don't need to know how to open the frunk. We will take care of that."

(sorry, couldn't resist :wink

 

[zack]

Startup Harvests Otherwise Wasted Lithium From Geothermal Power Plants | Popular Science

 

[Fr23shjive]

No way Elon would give up control of Tesla. Even if he did I don't think he would do it until the Gen III was successfully launched. Much like Jobs, he is a control freak, and I doubt he would give up control until his goals were achieved.

 

[jerry33]

I'm more concerned about the Middle East buying 40% of Daimler's investment in Tesla than I am about selling to Toyota. However, neither Toyota nor the Middle East is what I would call "EV friendly".

 

[BenTesla]

I'm more concerned about the Middle East buying 40% of Daimler's investment in Tesla than I am about selling to Toyota. However, neither Toyota nor the Middle East is what I would call "EV friendly".

I don't think Elon would let them gain any control but I think the Middle Eastern company is just looking to make money not run an electric car company.

On the tread: There is literally no reason why Apple or Tesla would want that deal. I could definitely see a partnership but doubt it cause Apple could choose the company they want to work with and Tesla is still not a sure bet to spend R&D money on.

 

[Yelmurc]

On the tread: There is literally no reason why Apple or Tesla would want that deal. I could definitely see a partnership but doubt it cause Apple could choose the company they want to work with and Tesla is still not a sure bet to spend R&D money on.

Agreed, I don't think Apple would want to buy Tesla. But Tesla does have a excitement around it, and a partnership of technology integrations like Siri would be a boost for Apple and Tesla. Apple would get to be integrated in a car that is seen as a innovator and Tesla will get the press that they have a partnership with Apple.

 

[Citizen-T]

Siri is a disaster and Apple is no better a partner than Google. I don't see what advantage this would bring Tesla over the relationships they already have in place and the technology they already have access to.

 

[jrickard]

Agreed, I don't think Apple would want to buy Tesla. But Tesla does have a excitement around it, and a partnership of technology integrations like Siri would be a boost for Apple and Tesla. Apple would get to be integrated in a car that is seen as a innovator and Tesla will get the press that they have a partnership with Apple.

Actually, it would be a brilliant move for Apple to buy Tesla, as well as SpaceX and Solar City. Apple has a couple of looming problems. First is their CEO is an able administrator and really an accomplished executive. But he is not an visionary leader. The deal will be to buy all three companies and get Elon Musk to run the whole mashup.

The more pressing problem is not leadership. It is the law of big numbers. Apple had 151 BILLION in revenues last year. And year over year growth of 95% which is very attractive to investors. They value growth more than anything else. When you have a ten million dollar company, and grow at 100% per year, you are faced with the daunting task of finding $10 million in new business. But when you have $151 BILLION in revenues, how do you grow 100% per year???? The law of big numbers kind of quashes you.

You cannot INNOVATE $150 billion in new business. You have to acquire it. Now what would Apple acquire in any related space that could move the needle on those kind of revenues. You can conjecture all you want, all your ideas will lead immediately to anti-trust hearings on a global scale. Microsoft, Google, AT&T? Nokia, Motorola? None of it would work at all.

But the U.S. auto market is 15 million cars a year. Apple has NO nexus there at all. None. Nada. They could buy any automobile manufacturer without a whisper, and gain entree to a half a TRILLION dollar market.

The same with solar. THere is just no nexus. An industry largely on its ass shredded by Chinese competition, with one exception. Solar City - your Supercharge center as it so happens. Unlimited growth, and no anti-trust claim is even possible.

And SpaceX. An iRocket? How about an iStation? to go with your iCar? and your iRoof?

Think you'll be opposed to all of this? How about trading 5 shares of Tesla for one share of Apple? $150 for $600 and valuing your stock at four times its current level, but you get to KEEP it as Apple stock.

Why would Elon Musk do this? He gets to run the whole show. Of course Timothy Cook does just what he does now, only under the auspices of Elon Musk. But Elon gets a $100 BILLION CASH HOARD Apple is sitting on right now, with NO CLUE what to do with it. It's actually invested in coal, concrete trucks, and other nonsense at the moment largely. Elon can tap $100 billion cash to move Apple into new markets such as AUTOMOBILES, Solar Installations, and Orbital Delivery. As Buzz LIghtyear says, TO INFINITI.....AND BEYOND!

It's all laid out here. .http://blog.evtv.me/2012/07/the-cold-weather-of-july-in-cape-girardeau/?goback=%2Egde_4107787_member_132193871

And that's where you heard it first. Actually Nova Mining curiously was how you heard it first. BUt I think it's going to happen.

 

[Citizen-T]

Best case in favor of this that I've heard. Just one problem, investors hate when a company buys companies outside of its core competency. See the Intel acquisition of McAfee as a case study. I think Apple's shares would get slammed if they did this.

I do like the idea of Elon having $100 billion at his disposal. I think that you are right, all of the bright minds at Apple couldn't figure out what to do with that money, but I'm sure Elon would have no trouble dreaming up extremely profitable ventures for that cash.

I still think it is a bad idea, but bravo on making a good case for it. I think the key to your argument is that Elon runs Apple after the merger.

 

[jrickard]

.... Just one problem, investors hate when a company buys companies outside of its core competency. See the Intel acquisition of McAfee as a case study. I think Apple's shares would get slammed if they did this..

They cannot have 95% year on year growth by selling more iPads. At some point everyone has an iPad. At some point everyone HAS an iPhone. And actually they have a third problem. The Android movement, because it is much more open than Apple's IOS, is gaining sway. Some say Samsung phones are actually outselling iPhones at the moment.

Now where would YOU find $150 billion in new business if you were Apple. They ARE going to continue to intrude on PC space. Microsoft and Dell are the walking dead. They are so big that the sight of them falling looks like continued forward movement.

Apple Sharewholder response? Well let's see. There are 935 million shares of Apple, and 105 million shares of Tesla. At a five to one swap, that costs Apple 20 million shares, out of 935 million. I would predict an Apple stock price free fall plunge from $600 to about $592 per share.

Actually, I think it would shoot up. What kind of investor is in Apple? Either growth or the Apple culture. How is the Apple Culture going to respond to: 1. Electric cars. 2. Solar Power. 3 Space services.???????

I'll let you work all that out. As to the growth investors, they are all too familiar with the law of big numbers. That's not an original problem I am positing here nor my terminology. They are VERY concerned over what Apple is going to do to continue to innovate with Steve Jobs gone and maintain that growth. It is the only topic with regards to this company. The mantra from Cupertino is that they are a big company now and were always much more than Steve Jobs behind the scenes. Time to mature and grow up and act like a big well oiled machine. That isn't precisely selling well. The investors are kind of "Well, ok...but show me...."

Elon Musk would bring the magic back to Apple. Move it into ENTIRELY new markets. And his mission of introing new Model X and beyond down to an AFFORDABLE but well designed electric car gets way down the road with $100 billion to work with. Similarly ramp up of a SOlar City model that appears to be working well enough to talk about an IPO to raise capital to scale it up and do it nationwide.

To get Elon, they will have to buy all three. And I think that actually rather than dipping to $592, it will be more like dipping to $692 on the news. Culturally and growth wise, I think it will be seen as accretive, which it is certainly not. But to imagine Apple with entree to iCar, iRoof, and iRocket with Elon Musk heading the whole mashup, would be very exciting news for Apple shareholders, one of which I am of course.

And with 44% of its stock sold short, what would happen to Tesla stock pre=close? I wouldn't stammer a guess. They would probably stop trading both stocks for about a week it would be so disruptive to the markets.

Jack Rickard

EVTV Motor Verks | Electric Car Conversion Videos

 

[jrickard]

Actually, I would like this story BETTER if Elon bought Apple. How about it Elon?

Now if you think that sounds ridiculous, I went through this in 1998. I called a company that was 10 times my size and publicly traded that I was calling to buy their company. They told me that was ridiculous. I was little and ugly and my mother dressed me funny, and they were a big publicly traded company. I told them, look drop the bullshit. We already beat you in the magazine space, and now we're beating you in your trade show. I have 22 people near a nervous breakdown and you have 160 who are mostly standing around the water cooler. I need your people. I need your buildings. I need you phone system. I need your copier machines. I need it all and I've waited to long, I need it LAST MONTH or I'm dead. We can't do a magazine. We can't do a trade show. We can't go to the bathroom. I need all your stuff. I am not calling for a considered opinion. I need a f***in price and get it right the first time because it's going to stick.

We actually met and DID decide to do a stock swap. A merger of equals which was in no way equal. There was just one little problem. I had $3.5 million in the bank with the taxes already paid on it. An oddity of this kind of swap is that there is NO WAY to get that money out of the deal. It has to be included.

If Elon put out a public tender of one share of Tesla for one share of Apple, if it is agreed to by a majority of the shareholders, the resulting entity automatically gets the $100 billion in cash. ANd there is really no way around it.

When you actually sit down and start talking about it, the lines between whose company is whose immediately starts to blur. The question is who is going to run it?

In the end, we did the deal by acquisition and I got to keep my piggy bank. But that was because it just wouldn't work as a stock swap because of this cash thing. There's just no way to take it out without someone going to jail. That's the SEC rules. If you're going to merge, you have to merge ALL of it. Six months later we sold the WHOLE thing for cash to Penton Media anyway.

No Apple shareholders are not going to object to this deal. Oddly, the resistance will come from the Tesla side. I'm not sure Toyota and Daimler will be so enthusiastic about a new car company with the buzz and a hundred billion in the sock on the block,

Jack RIckard
EVTV Motor Verks | Electric Car Conversion Videos

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Maybe Tesla will buy Apple when it crashes




actual as in a + # of cash?
not negative cash
|
V

 

[jrickard]

Elon would have more actual cash on hand at his disposal than Barack Obama and the Untied States Congress.