Apple is reportedly brain-draining Tesla by poaching its employees for top-secret Project Titan, causing delays in Tesla's car production. Experts are not ruling out the possibility that the Cupertino tech giant will buy Tesla in the future.
From production managers to senior engineers, Tesla employees are jumping ship for Apple, according to a report by GeekWire, saying that Apple's project is "too exciting to pass up". There are allegedly a total of 1,000 employees working on Project Titan, most of which are former Tesla employees.
Previously, it was the other way around. Tesla was the one doing the hiring for about 150 Apple employees. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Apple was proposing $250,000 contract bonus coupled with a 60% salary bump. He further added that Apple has only recruited a few people despite its efforts to hire from Tesla.
AppleInsider reported that Apple's Project Titan is making a negative impact on Tesla, specifically in its product development timeline. Tesla's Model X is scheduled for launch this month, but it has already suffered a lot of drawbacks. Yet, Apple's involvement in the production delays is not clear since the Model S Sedan has also been delayed even before Project Titan started.
Will Apple acquire Tesla? Business Insider says that there is a possibility for such a thing to happen considering Tesla is still a young company and is now experiencing problems. Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray considers it to be a smart move for Apple in the long run. However, Musk has no plans to sell the company.
Former Ford executive Steve Zadesky currently heads Apple's Project Titan. Zadesky was tasked with forming a 1000-person team, and seeing how Apple is eagerly winning over Tesla employees, it is clear that he is not wasting any time doing it. Project Titan is expected to kick-off in 2020.
Tesla is currently in the lead in the electric car industry race. However, competitions are closing in as Porsche and Audi create their own electric car prototypes to rival Tesla in 2018.
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