Apple should buy Tesla from Elon Musk — or so thinks Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, speaking in a recent interview with Bloomberg Radio.
“The big thing they could buy that I would be impressed with is Tesla,” Munster said, referring to how Apple could spend its $203 billion in cash. “To me, when you think about that absurd amount of cash, you have to go after opportunities, and I think automotive fits within that camp.”
Munster was speaking about the recent reports that Apple is working on Project Titan, an electric car project which is reportedly consuming the time of 1,000 Apple employees. But while Munster says a Tesla acquisition would be interesting, he also notes that it’s not something Apple has to do by any means.
“Given Apple’s DNA, it probably makes sense for them to just develop something on their own,” he said. “If they would go the Tesla route, and if Elon Musk would step aside — [and] those are two big ifs — then it would make structural sense for them to do that.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard the subject of an Apple acquisition of Tesla raised. Tim Cook has even been asked directly by shareholders about the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla. “We don’t really have a relationship with them,” he replied evasively. “Was that a good way to avoid the question?” he asked, following up.
There have been plenty of reports of Tesla and Apple trading employees, although Apple has also been hiring its own car people — such as Doug Betts, previously the senior vice president of Chrysler Group, who was recently given a job by the company.
Personally, I’d love to see Apple get into the electric car space — although if it did acquire Tesla for whatever reason (and it wouldn’t be the patents), surely you’d want Elon Musk to come as part of the package?
Source: Business Insider
