Apple made more than $110 billion in the 1st quarter of its fiscal year 2021. The CEO Tim Cook also noted that the tech giant bought about 100 acquisitions since 2015. But like the whole world, Apple would wish it bought Tesla when Elon Musk asked it to do so in 2013: “For example, Tesla founder Elon Musk recently revealed that he approached Mr Cook to buy the electric car business when it was struggling in 2013”. Apple did not show interest in the proposed deal.
Apple has acquired about 100 companies over the last six years, the company’s chief executive Tim Cook has revealed.
That works out at a company every three to four weeks, he told Apple’s annual meeting of shareholders on Tuesday.
Apple recently delivered its largest quarter by revenue of all time, bringing in $111.4bn (£78.7bn) in the first-quarter of its fiscal year 2021.
Mr Cook told the shareholders meeting that the acquisitions are mostly aimed at acquiring technology and talent.
Tesla was in the neighborhood of a $20 billion valuation; just around Nigeria’s effective annual budget. Today, Tesla is worth close to $700 billion and Apple is worth 2.09 trillion. Of course, a Vice President of Motor Division, Elon Musk, under an Apple umbrella, might not have delivered what we are seeing in the current Tesla. Yet, it is evident that if Apple had bought Tesla in 2013, it would have been the biggest deal of all ages! Of course, not just Apple, but anyone in the game of investing.
On Friday Tesla Motors (TSLA) closed at yet another all-time high of $183 per share leaving it with a market capitalization of greater than $22 billion…..a cult-like valuation given a company that will produce but 20,000 cars in all of 2013. So every car Tesla produces is worth $1.1 million even though the world famous model S prices around $80-$110,000 depending on battery ranges and charger sizes and myriads of extras. Even doubling the number of cars sold to Tesla’s 2014 target of 40,000, then you are still left buying stock at $550,000 per car.
As the world moves to make fossil fuel the next tobacco which must be avoided by all costs, companies like Tesla have great moments ahead of them.
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In retrospect, it might seem a ‘good buy if Apple had scooped Tesla. But we have to remember that in 2013, Oil price was hovering around $97 per barrel. Fossil fuel was spinning easy money. Then add the problems Tesla was facing then, it was not an attractive bride then.
Absolutely – no one will blame Apple just as not everyone bought Tesla then.
Apple not buying Tesla in 2013 really put a lot of things in proper perspective. Does the world gain or lose more when corporations acquire start-ups? No clear cut answer, but a historical analysis would give some insights.
There are two types of start-ups that are usually good candidates for acquisition: promising and struggling start-ups. Acquisition of latter might look like a good thing, if they were transformed, going on to becoming profitable. As for acquisition of the former? It will be extremely difficult to argue convincingly that a promising start-up would do better when acquired by an incumbent.
Apple would claimed great victory if it had acquired Tesla and the latter went ahead to be relatively successful under Apple, the big question is, would there be a chance that under Apple the world would witness the Tesla of today? Herein lies the big unknown. We are great at analysing ‘what if’, but not so great at ‘what could have been’; that’s when we will be able to imagine how humanity would have benefited, if the incumbents didn’t make irresponsible acquisitions, only to kill and shatter dreams and destinies.
So, when next you are celebrating ‘successful’ acquisitions, think of how it could turn out differently.