Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said he once considered selling the electric car maker to Apple, but Tim Cook rejected a request for a meeting.

Mr Musk said he contacted Mr Cook “to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla (for one-tenth of our current value). He refused to take the meeting”.

Tesla’s market value is 616 billion dollars (£460 billion), as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

Mr Musk said he sought out the meeting with the Apple chief executive “during the darkest days of the Model 3 program”, a reference to Tesla’s first electric car designed for the mass market.

As recently as 2018, Tesla was struggling to meet its vehicle production goals and turn a profit.

Tesla’s fortunes have changed since then and the car manufacturer is finally making money on a consistent basis after years of losses and continues to hit milestones for deliveries of its vehicles.

Its shares have soared 665% this year alone, making it the world’s most valuable automaker and among the top 10 biggest US companies in the S&P 500 index, which Tesla entered on Monday.

Mr Musk’s tweet followed published reports suggesting Apple is working on developing its own electric cars, but Apple declined to comment.