In May of 2013, we reported Tesla and Google were working together on some sort of self-driving car. It may have been more than that; a new report says in 2013, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Google boss Larry Page were in talks for Google to buy Tesla for as much as $6 billion. Musk was apparently dictating terms, asking for as much as $5 billion extra to keep Teslas rolling off the line, and that he remain in-charge of his electric car empire.

Discussion around the vehicles wasn’t nearly as positive as it is today, which was understandable considering they just weren’t that good. Early missteps caused Tesla to shutter a factory, as customers simply weren’t interested in taking delivery of an expensive proof-of-concept.
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https://www.slashgear.com/google-was-once-6-billion-away-from-owning-tesla-20379839/