Technology billionaire Elon Musk pursued a sale of struggling electric-car company Tesla to Google in 2013 , according to an excerpt of a book published on Monday by Bloomberg News . Beset by technical problems on its flagship Model S , Tesla in early 2013 was on the verge of bankruptcy , Bloomberg reporter Ashlee Vance said in an excerpt of his biography Elon Musk : Tesla , SpaceX And The Quest For A Fantastic Future , which will be published May 19 . In March 2013 , Musk contacted Google co-founder Larry Page , according to the excerpt , which cited two people close to the situation . Technology billionaire Elon Musk pursued a sale of his struggling electric-car company Tesla to Google for $ 6 billion before its share price rocketed in May 2013 , according to a new biography . Musk proposed that Google buy Tesla for $ 6 billion and promise an additional $ 5 billion in factory expansions . He also demanded that he be permitted to run Tesla as a unit of Google for eight years , or until Tesla produced a third-generation car , the excerpt said . Page declined to comment on the matter , but told Vance that a 'car company is pretty far from what Google knows . ' But Page , Vance reported , 'accepted the overall proposal ' and the two sides began negotiating specific points . Tesla 's fortunes changed suddenly in May 2013 when the company reported its first profit after an intense drive overseen by Musk to address technical glitches yielded a sudden jump in Model S orders . The surprisingly good earnings sent Tesla shares rocketing higher and ended the Google negotiations . Musk 'no longer needed a savior , ' Vance wrote . Tesla 's fortunes changed suddenly in May 2013 when the company reported its first profit after an intense drive overseen by Musk to address technical glitches yielded a sudden jump in Model S orders . Last year , Tesla was at the center of rumors that Apple was considering an acquisition of the company . Google , which has pursued technology for a self-driving car , earlier this year , along with investment giant Fidelity , pumped $ 1 billion into SpaceX , Musk 's private space-travel technology venture .
The technology billionaire pursued a sale of struggling electric-car company Tesla to Google in 2013 for $ 6 billion . Musk demanded that he be permitted to run Tesla as a unit of Google for eight years , or until Tesla produced a third-generation car . Negoitations promptly ended in May 2013 when his company unexpectedly yielded its first profit and he no longer needed the finanical support . The claims are made in the new biography Elon Musk : Tesla , SpaceX And The Quest For A Fantastic Future .