Update: Tesla CEO Elon Musk is denying that this interaction ever took place. He wrote on Twitter today that he and Cook have never spoken or written to each other. “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. He refused to meet,” Musk says.
The history between Tesla and Apple, and between Tim Cook and Elon Musk, varies depending on who you talk to. At one point, Musk claimed to have reached out to Cook about selling Tesla to Apple, but Cook refused to even take a meeting. Cook, on the other hand, claims to have never spoken to Musk.
Now, Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins is out with a new book next month called Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century, and it recounts an expletive-ridden conversation between Cook and Musk about Apple acquiring Tesla.
As detailed in a review of the book published today by the Los Angeles Times, Cook and Musk were reportedly on the phone discussing Tesla’s unveiling of the Model 3, and the struggles that went along with it. Cook suggested that Apple buy Tesla.
Musk was reportedly interested in this proposition, but on one condition: He serves as CEO not of Tesla, but of Apple entirely. “F– you,” Cook reportedly responded before immediately hanging up the call.
Cook apparently thought that Musk was saying he simply wanted to remain CEO of Tesla through the acquisition, not become CEO of Apple entirely.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk are talking on the phone. The 2016 unveiling of the make-it-or-break-it Model 3 is coming soon, but Tesla is in serious financial trouble. Cook has an idea: Apple buys Tesla.
Musk is interested, but one condition: “I’m CEO.”
Sure, says Cook. When Apple bought Beats in 2014, it kept on the founders, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.
No, Musk says. Apple. Apple CEO.
“F— you” Cook says, and hangs up.
When asked in a recent interview about his relationship with Musk, Tim Cook explained that while he’s “never spoken to Elon,” he has “great admiration and respect” for Tesla. Apple has also hired a number of employees from Tesla over the years, leading Musk to at one point refer to Apple as the “Tesla graveyard.”
Apple is in the midst of its efforts to build an electric car of some sort, which presumably would compete directly with Tesla.
Higgins managed to make his book both false *and* boring 🤣🤣
Olivia Colman, Javier Bardem, Susan Sarandon and Tilda Swinton are among more than 1,300 filmmakers who are refusing to work with Israeli film companies they say are “implicated in genocide” in Gaza.
Screenwriters, producers, actors and directors have signed a pledge created by Film Makers for Palestine in the latest show of celebrities speaking out against the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
They will boycott Israeli film institutions and companies, which they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.
Some of the biggest names in film have signed the pledge, Riz Ahmed, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson and Ken Loach also among them.
Writer-directors such as The Lobster director Yorgos Lanthimos and British filmmaker Asif Kapadia, who made documentaries Senna, Amy and Diego Maradona, and producers such as two-time BAFTA winner James Wilson and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy producer Robyn Slovo have also signed the pledge.
Image: The Crown actress Olivia Colman has signed the pledge. Pic: PA
Palme d’Or and BAFTA-winning producer Rebecca O’Brien, who produced I, Daniel Blake with Ken Loach, told Sky News: “For decades, Israeli festivals, broadcasters, and production companies have played their role in masking and justifying Israel’s system of apartheid and its war crimes – some through direct government partnerships.
“I refuse to let my work be used to whitewash a genocide.”
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Israel has repeatedly said its actions in Gaza are justified as a means of self-defence and denied they amount to genocide.
Image: Susan Sarandon, here at a pro-Palestinian rally in New York, has made the pledge. Pic: AP
The boycott pledge urges the industry to “refuse silence, racism, and dehumanisation and to do everything humanly possible to end complicity in their oppression”.
The declaration was inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid, founded by award-winning filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme in 1987, which led to more than 100 prominent filmmakers refusing to screen their films in apartheid South Africa.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Annie Lennox, Gary Lineker and Dua Lipa were among the public figures joining leading doctors, academics, campaign groups and a Holocaust survivor.
Image: Bond villain Javier Bardem has also signed
In June, more celebrities added their names to the letter to try to push the government to act after they said nothing had changed.
At the time, a UK government spokesman said it “strongly” opposes Israel’s military expansion in Gaza and called on the Israeli government to “cease its offensive and immediately allow for unfettered access to humanitarian aid”.
The spokesman also said the government suspended export licences to Israel last year “for items used in military operations in Gaza” and called for a ceasefire agreement.
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Israeli PM speaks after Jerusalem attack
More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Strip since the war began, Hamas-run Gaza health authorities say.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages.
Of the 48 hostages still held in Gaza, 20 are believed to still be alive.
Over the past few weeks, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have been preparing to intensify the war after the government vowed to gain full military control of Gaza to defeat Hamas.
Rick Davies, a founding member of the British rock group Supertramp, has died.
The 81-year-old, who had been battling multiple myeloma – a type of blood cancer – for the last decade, died on Saturday, a statement from the band said.
The band’s lead singer wrote many of their hits, including Breakfast In America and The Logical Song, alongside Roger Hodgson.
Image: Supertramp’s Richard Davies, Roger Hodgson, Richard Palmer, Robert Millar and David Winthrop. Pic: PA
The band’s statement, posted with a photo of Davies walking his dog by the sea and soundtrack of Goodbye Stranger, paid tribute to both his musical legacy and his warm personality.
The statement read: “As co-writer, along with partner Roger Hodgson, he was the voice and pianist behind Supertramp’s most iconic songs, leaving an indelible mark on rock music history.
“His soulful vocals and unmistakable touch on the Wurlitzer became the heartbeat of the band’s sound.”
“Beyond the stage, Rick was known for his warmth, resilience, and devotion to his wife Sue, with whom he shared over five decades,” the band said.
“After facing serious health challenges, which kept him unable to continue touring as Supertramp, he enjoyed performing with his hometown buds as Ricky and the Rockets.
“Rick’s music and legacy continue to inspire many and bear testament to the fact that great songs never die, they live on.”
Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, in 1944, Davies’s love of music began in his childhood, the group said, listening to Gene Krupa’s Drummin’ Man, which sparked a lifelong passion for jazz, blues and rock ‘n’ roll.
Davies and Hodgson formed the band that would become Supertramp in 1969.
Image: (L-R) Rick Davies and John Helliwell in 2002. Pic Reuters
The line-up changed numerous times over the years, with the band best remembered for the period from 1973 to 1983, when Davies and Hodgson performed with Dougie Thomson on bass, Bob Siebenberg on drums and John Helliwell on saxophone.
Crime of the Century, their breakthrough album, came out in 1974, followed by their biggest hit in 1979 with Breakfast In America, and hit singles The Logical Song, Breakfast in America, Goodbye Stranger and Take the Long Way Home.
Amid creative disputes, Hodgson left the band to go solo in 1983. Davies eventually became the only constant member throughout its history.
While a reunion tour was announced in 2015, it was cancelled when Davies was diagnosed with cancer.
He settled a royalties lawsuit in 2023 after a long-running dispute with ex-bandmates. Just last month, a US appeals court ruled that Hodgson must share royalties for three of Supertramp’s songs with his ex-bandmates.
Davies leaves behind his wife Sue, who had managed the band since the mid-80s.
Lady Gaga has led the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), with four wins including artist of the year. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter took three awards each.
It was a night dominated by women, with female stars bagging all the awards, with the exception of Bruno Mars for his collaborations with Gaga and Blackpink member Rose.
Mariah Carey collected her first-ever VMA award, swiftly followed by a second when she was awarded the Video Vanguard award.
And tribute was paid to Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July, with Yungblud and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performing Black Sabbath classics, introduced by Jack Osbourne and his four daughters.