Apple Officially Adds Tesla To Its List Of ‘Secondary Peer Group Of Premier Companies’

Apple is currently the biggest publicly traded company in the world. The tech giant recently hit a market capitalization of $3 trillion, making it the first company in the world to achieve this feat. Not only that, but the iPhone maker is also the most profitable company in the world and is seen by many as the standard of excellence other companies are compared against.

And over the years, as Tesla has achieved bigger and bolder milestones in the company’s stated lofty goal of transitioning the world to sustainable energy, the EV maker has undoubtedly run into the inevitable comparisons with Apple.

Merely the act of comparing Tesla to Apple is by itself proof of how far the Austin, Texas EV maker has come in the past few years.

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Trying to reach volume production of the Model 3 was one of the toughest challenges in Tesla’s history. During the Model 3 ramp, Tesla burned through $3 billion as the company tried to reach a production rate of 5000 vehicles per week. Musk at the time said the Model 3 was a “bet the company” moment.

And in December 2020, Elon Musk revealed that, during the most difficult part of the Model 3 ramp, he reached out to Apple to make a deal. Elon said, he planned to discuss the possibility of selling Tesla to Apple for $60 billion.

After the recent rally in Tesla’s stock price, which has increased the EV maker’s market cap to over $1 trillion, means Musk was considering selling Tesla just 4 years ago for one-eighteenth of its current price.

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And Apple with over $200 billion of spare cash sitting in a bank could have easily swooped up Tesla. However, lucky for Elon Musk and Tesla investors, Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to even take the meeting.

During the darkest days of the Model 3 program, I reached out to Tim Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for 1/10 of our current value). He refused to take the meeting.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 22, 2020

And now, in just 4 years, Tesla is in a completely different position as a company. Not only did the EV maker successfully tackle the Model 3 production ramp at its Fremont California plant and Nevada Gigafactory, but has also repeated the process at its Shanghai Gigafactory for a fraction of the pain, cost, and time.

On top of that, Tesla has also brought a second vehicle to volume production, the Model Y in the company’s Fremont California plant and at its Shanghai Gigafactory.

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Tesla has also announced battery chemistry and production breakthroughs at the company’s Battery Day event. These breakthroughs are expected to further solidify Tesla’s position at the helm of the EV world.

Tesla plans to bring the Batter Day announcements into customer deliverable products beginning with a refreshed Model Y Elon Musk has said will be the world’s most advanced vehicle “with two-thirds of the body cast.”

Initial production of the refreshed Model Y has already begun in the EV maker’s newest Gigafactory in Brandenburg Germany. However, the 33 Model Ys recently seen at Giga Berlin are still pre-production units and Tesla still has to wait for final approval from Brandenburg State Environmental Agency to begin volume production.

If Giga Berlin ends up being delayed by bureaucratic red tape, Tesla has also begun refreshed Model Y production at the currently under construction mile-long Texas Gigafactory. Giga Texas volume production is expected to begin any day now.

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And as Tesla’s achievements have started to rack up, Apple seems to have taken notice. In a recent SEC filing discussing executive compensation, Apple said in order to determine appropriate compensation levels for its named executives, the tech giant looks to peer companies.

Hours ago we learned that Tesla's made several changes to the Model 3 and Model Y that were highlighted in a new internal post.-Details: https://t.co/2lYnEGZTvD-#ModelY #Model3 #Tesla $TSLA #Tesla Thanks @SawyerMerritt for the tip. pic.twitter.com/YaPUHjO1R8— Torque News (@torquenewsauto) January 8, 2022

Apple divides these peer companies into 2 groups. According to Apple, the primary peer group consists of “U.S.-based, stand-alone, publicly-traded companies in the technology, media, and internet services industries that, in the Compensation Committee’s view, compete with Apple for talent.”

These include industry giants such as Alphabet, AT&T, Cisco, Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, and Verizon. Tesla was not included in this group but to the second tier of competition Apple says are
“premier companies that have iconic brands or are industry or category leaders, rely on significant research and development and innovation for growth and require highly skilled employees”

Tesla is the newest addition to this group and includes companies such as 3M, Boeing, General Electric, Nike, Pfizer, American Express, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and United Health Group.

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Tesla’s addition to this group is yet another sign of the EV maker’s success starting to be noticed by competitors. Currently, Apple has 3 times the market cap of Tesla however, according to Elon Musk, it won’t be long until we see Tesla at the helm of the most valuable companies in the world.

As of now, it is impossible to say when Tesla will overtake Apple but we will be sure to keep you posted as the EV maker’s stock price moves. Makes sure to visit our site torquenews.com/Tesla for the latest information.

So what do you think? Excited Tesla has finally has been named a competitor by Apple? Do you think the EV maker has a chance of overtaking the tech giant? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.

Image: Courtesy Of Tesla

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Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.