Elon Musk Denies Demanding That CEO of Apple Give Up His Job

"Cook and I have never spoken or written to each other ever."

Likely Story

Remember late last week, when a new book claimed that Elon Musk once demanded that Apple CEO Tim Cook give up his job so that Musk could take it?

Now, Musk — and Apple, sort of — are both saying that the story is nonsense. They could be right. But it's also conceivable that they're both downplaying the story, even if it might be true, because of the sheer chaos and unprofessionalism that it represents.

Car Wars

According to Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins' new book, "Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century," sources at Tesla told him about a 2016 phone call in which Musk and Cook discussed the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla.

But the call went off the rails, according to Higgins' sources, when Musk told Cook that the deal would only work if Musk could take Cook's job as the CEO of Apple. In Higgins' telling, Cook responded with the words "f*ck you," and hung up the call.

Musk, though, now says none of that happened.

"Cook and I have never spoken or written to each other ever," he tweeted. "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."

And Apple, speaking to The Verge, pointed out that Cook has previously said that he's never spoken to Musk.

Should we take these billionaires at their word? You decide.

READ MORE: Review: A deep new history of Tesla takes the shine off Elon Musk [Los Angeles Times]

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