--- title: "Elon Musk Denies Demanding That CEO of Apple Give Up His Job" description: "Remember last week, when a new book claimed that Elon Musk once demanded to be made the CEO of Apple? Now he says it never happened." date: "2021-08-02" modified: "2021-08-02" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-denies-ceo-apple" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "apple" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Denies Demanding That CEO of Apple Give Up His Job ![Remember last week, when a new book claimed that Elon Musk once demanded to be made the CEO of Apple? Now he says it never happened.]() *\Image: NORAD/USNORTHCOM/Victor Tangermann\* ## 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]() \[*Los Angeles Times*\] **More on Elon Musk:** [Elon Musk Reportedly Demanded to Be Made CEO of Apple]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()