The technology billionaire pursued a sale of struggling electric - car manufacturer Tesla to Google in 2013 for $ 6 billion . Google demanded that he be permitted to run Tesla as a unit of Google for eight years , or until Tesla purchased a third - generation car . Negoitations promptly ended in May 2014 when his company unexpectedly yielded its first profit and he no longer needed the finanical assets . The claims are made in the new biography Elon website : Tesla , SpaceX And The ##sla For A Fantastic Future .
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 .