Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk sought to hire Herbert Diess — currently, the CEO of Volkswagen AG VWAGY, to lead Tesla in 2015, according to reports.
What Happened: Diess came close to assuming the mantle at Tesla and even had the contract in his hands, according to Business Insider Germany (via Electrek).
Had this transpired, Diess would not have joined Volkswagen after leaving BMW, where he served more than 15 years.
The Business Insider report claims that Diess only told a few people at Volkswagen about Tesla’s efforts to hire him.
No explanation was made regarding why Diess did not take on the role of Tesla’s CEO in the report.
Why It Matters: Volkswagen has recently released a technology roadmap for batteries and charging up until the year 2030, which has given a boost to the OTC shares of the German automaker.
On a year-to-date basis, Volkswagen OTC shares have risen 63.8%.
Diess told investors and analysts in November that Volkswagen has to be “seen as a tech company.” He admitted that it was “going to be a race with Tesla.”
In September, Diess and Musk met at a small airport in Germany, where the latter took Volkswagen’s ID.3 Electric Vehicle for a test drive.
In January, Diess made his debut on Twitter and warned Tesla he wanted to grab some market share. He said he was on the social media platform to make an “impact.”
Price Action: Tesla shares closed 8.6% higher at $762.32 on Tuesday and fell almost 0.6% in the after-hours session. On the same day, Volkswagen OTC shares fell 1.9% to $34.10.
Read Next: Who Will Emerge As Tesla's Biggest Rival By 2025?
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Photo: Courtesy of Alexander Migl
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