Tesla is worth over $500 billion and Elon Musk is currently the second richest person on Earth. The company seems on a meteoric rise with no end in sight. But perhaps a merger could be in the automaker’s future.
While at an Axel Springer Award event in Berlin, Tesla CEO Elon Musk was asked if he would consider buying a rival automaker given that Tesla’s more than $500 billion market value would make a takeover bid easy.
In response, Elon said, via Reuters.:
We are definitely not going to launch a hostile takeover. If somebody said it would be a good idea to merge with Tesla, we would have this conversation.
I wonder if this has anything to do with an email obtained by Electrek, which alleges that Elon wants Tesla to focus on cost-cutting and profits to prevent Tesla’s stock price from falling. Tesla’s stock has tripled in the past six months, but Musk is reportedly worried that the company is overvalued. From Electrek:
When looking at our actual profitability, it is very low at around 1% for the past year. Investors are giving us a lot of credit for future profits, but if, at any point, they conclude that’s not going to happen, our stock will immediately get crushed like a soufflé under a sledgehammer!
Tesla has achieved profits in the last five quarters in a row, but the profits have been marginal and often dependent on regulatory credits.
Further, I’m curious as to which rivals Musk would be interested in having that conversation with. Tesla has worked with other marques in the past as a supplier, but seeing Tesla merged with an established automaker could be interesting.
We’ll keep you updated if anything changes.