Apple, Tesla Fighting Over Top Employees

Apple and Tesla have been battling to recruit top talent from each other, according to a new report from Bloomberg Business. Tesla has hired at least 150 former Apple employees, more than they have from any other company.

tesla_model_s

The company has hired at least 150 former Apple employees, more than from any other company, even carmakers. The former Apple staffers work in many areas of the 6,000-employee automaker, including engineering and law. “From a design philosophy, [Apple] is relatively closely aligned,” says Musk, Tesla’s co-founder and chief executive officer. Apple declined to comment for this story.

Former Apple employees say their decision to join Tesla was based on the company's electric cars and CEO Elon Musk, who is a similar figure to Jobs. Like Jobs, Musk pays a great deal of attention to the details of his products and is a strong, visionary leader. Musk reportedly has a soft spot for Apple and enjoys comparisons to Steve Jobs as well, one former Tesla employee tells Bloomberg.

Apple's influence can be felt in the 17-inch touchscreen installed in Tesla's cars as well as its retail stores, both of which had former Apple employees in key roles. High profile former Apple employees at Tesla include Doug Field, Apple's former VP of Mac Hardware Engineering, who leads new vehicle development at the car company. Using top Silicon Valley talent, like former employees at Apple, allows Tesla to get a leg-up on competitors in the automobile industry.

While Tesla has had success recruiting talent from Apple, Musk says that Apple has hired "very few people" from the car company despite offering $250,000 signing bonuses and 60 percent salary increases to its employees.

Apple and Tesla have interacted in the past, with a report emerging in February 2014 that Apple had considered purchasing Tesla. Musk also revealed the two companies have had "conversations", though it isn't known whether those were about a potential acquisition, iOS integration in Tesla cars or battery technology.

The report also provides an interesting look into other ways Apple has influenced one of the most talked about companies in Silicon Valley and is worth reading at Bloomberg Business.

Top Rated Comments

KylePowers Avatar
119 months ago
Still waiting for Apple and Tesla to fight over me :(
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Roessnakhan Avatar
119 months ago
Tesla is a niche+vaporware quite unknown brand.
Um... what? How are they vaporware? Unknown?
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
119 months ago
Seriously? Do you think the world ends in Alaska or what? So you're saying me that if we select random people from all over the world, both sex and all the age ranges, Tesla will be a commonly recognized and positively considered brand? You have to be joking. Do your mothers even know what Tesla is or recognize its emblem?

Strongest car brands, by the way: Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz.

My parents know what Tesla is.

I have friends throughout europe and asia who know what Tesla is.

I think it's time you give up this "rant."
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vegasman Avatar
119 months ago
Have you heard about the model X or model 3? their delays? They have also delayed their profit guidance up to 2019. They sell some tenths of thousands of niche cars, have enormous debt and operating costs, and have a market cap like they were going to sell millions. Now they've said they're delaying their mainstream vehicles another year or pair of years. By then BMW and others will have their electric range

I'm sorry but Tesla is pure hype for geeks and snobs (in the US), vaporware+bubble stock (and brand).

The Model S is a good car by the way.

And of course they're unknown, do you think the people on forums and car-tech sites represent a big percentage over the whole population?


You sound like me when people were trying to explain why this bookstore called Amazon was so spectacular. I turned out to be wrong.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JesperA Avatar
119 months ago
Seriously? Do you think the world ends in Alaska or what? So you're saying me that if we select random people from all over the world, both sex and all the age ranges, Tesla will be a commonly recognized and positively considered brand? You have to be joking. Do your mothers even know what Tesla is or recognize its emblem?
Alaska, if you open your eyes you would have seen that i live in Sweden, and even all the way over here Tesla have alot of media exposure, everyone doesnt live under a rock like you. And since i already told you in my other post that everyone i know knows what a Tesla is that would have answered your last question but you still go on this incredible stupid rant of yours, refusing to listen even though several people now have told you how wrong you are.

I hope you are just trolling.

Again, you do realize that Tesla was founded 12 years ago, only sells in a handful of countries (mainly in 1 country), have no advertising, don't compete in any kind of motorsport, and has sold 50k cars, do you?
Ok, now it is obivous that you dont know what you are talking about. Tesla sells to quite a few countries actually, more than a handfull of european countries, even have superchargers placed all over western and nothern europe: http://www.teslamotors.com/en_EU/supercharger
Also it has quite alot of advertising and alot of media exposure.

You are wrong, i dont understand why you are so incredible stubborn when alot of people have told you how wrong you are. Why is it so important for you that you insist on that Tesla is a "nobody"
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nando87 Avatar
119 months ago
Both are a good and very strong brands.
No, Apple is a very good and very strong brand, maybe the best. Tesla is a niche+vaporware quite unknown brand.

Apple has infinitely more money, expertise and power. If Tesla thinks they are winning at something, is because Apple wants it that way, or simply doesn't care.

Let's be realistic.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...