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The head of the car manufacturer Tesla, Elon Musk, once thought about selling his company to the electronics company Apple.

He had turned to Apple CEO Tim Cook "to talk about the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current market value)," Musk tweeted on Tuesday (local time).

"He refused to attend the meeting."

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Tesla's market value at the close of trading on Tuesday was $ 616 billion.

A tenth of the current market value would be $ 61.6 billion.

Musk released the tweet after there were reports that Apple was working on developing its own electric cars.

Apple didn't want to comment.

Musk: "Darkest Days"

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Musk said he sought to meet Cook "during the darkest days of the Model 3 program."

It's a reference to Tesla's first electric car designed for the broader market.

In 2018, Tesla was struggling to meet its production targets and make a profit.

Tesla is now making a profit and is reaching milestones in car sales.

Tesla shares have soared 665 percent this year.

This makes Tesla the most valuable car company in the world.

On Monday, Tesla was added to the S&P 500 index.

According to insiders, Apple is aiming for the introduction of an autonomous passenger vehicle as early as 2024, which could contain a breakthrough in battery technology.

The development of one's own car as part of "Project Titan", which began in 2014, is correspondingly well advanced, said two people familiar with the matter to the Reuters news agency.

A central element are newly developed batteries, which could deliver significantly lower costs with a longer range, said another person.

"It's like the first time you saw an iPhone," she said of the new battery.