Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) and Apple Inc. (AAPL): One of a Kind?

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLlost a great leader in Steve Jobs, but his vision for Apple still remains–make great products. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) seems to be carrying out Elon Musk’s (Tesla’s CEO) vision to “change the world.” Both of these visions are easier said than done, but both companies have managed to develop one of a kind products. What does their future hold?

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Like minded companies

Both companies have massive visions and great leadership. Elon Musk has been everywhere lately. It’s true that these companies don’t have a whole lot in common besides their vision and great leadership, but they might have more in common than you think.

Apple will be a lot more involved in cars over the next year or two, as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (ETR:BMW) will implement Siri Eyes Free in all of its 2014 models. If Apple is bringing great products to the auto industry, what else is it willing to do?

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has already started to revolutionize the industry with its electric vehicles. Elon Musk was asked about the potential of being acquired in May of this year. His response? “That’s one of the possible outcomes, I suppose.” When asked specifically about Apple, his response wasn’t exactly negative. “They do have a lot of cash. I’d guess it would come from outside the auto industry. It would be a buyer with a very large cash position.”

Tesla is too expensive

Elon Musk is aware of this. For most companies, it wouldn’t make sense to acquire Tesla. “From the perspective of a large [automaker], Tesla just seems very expensive,” Musk said. “How many cars do we make? What’s our market cap? It seems nutty to them.” Yes, it would. No argument there.

But what if a company had, I don’t know, $150 billion laying around (like Apple), and had a vision of making great products. Would an acquisition then make sense? Maybe. Here is the point. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has the cash, and Tesla makes great vehicles. If Tesla already makes great products and Apple has the funds available to them, wouldn’t an acquisition help both sides?

Is it a win-win?

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) would suddenly have the backing of a company with millions of “cult-like” followers. Apple would have positioned itself, with minimal risk, to dominate yet another industry. What would be the asking price? Who knows, but it would likely be more than Tesla’s $14 billion market cap, which has increased approximately 20% in the past two weeks.

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