If Tim Cook met Elon Musk, Elon Musk could have then disclosed the meeting occurred via side channel media leak: “Apple meets with Elon Musk to discuss purchase.” If that rumor got out, it would cause Tesla stock to jump (which Elon Musk likely wanted in the first place). This could then put pressure on Tim Cook to say he does not want to buy Tesla publicly. It would also confirm that Apple is interested in the car business. It could also result in pressure on Tim Cook to actually pursue the acquisition of Tesla or an investment by his own board and the media.

None of the above is really in Tim Cook’s best interest unless he really wanted to buy Tesla and displace himself as CEO of Apple. Face it: Tim Cook is not in the same league as Elon Musk and the Apple board of directors might “Smell Blood” and begin thinking of ways to exit Tim Cook and replace him with Elon Musk if such a meeting ever did occur. It is literally nothing but potential downside liability or distraction for any strategy Tim Cook has for Apple.

Tim also likely has a multi year strategy in place for Apple, all of which has been signed off on and which he does not want to shake loose. A random meeting with Elon Musk sends a signal that Tim Cook’s strategy is not final, which creates distractions - something you do not want when you are running a company the size of Apple. It is VERY HARD to keep executives and the board on track.

If you are not familiar with executive power games, you might not understand why Tim Cook would turn this meeting down. Simply meeting with Musk could set into motion a chain of events resulting in his deposition or serious disruption to Tim’s plans.

Elon Musk could then use the opening to build influence channels into the Apple board and key investors which could undermine Tim Cook’s power.

I know we all love Elon Musk, but he is a very dangerous executive and you don’t make mistakes like this with someone like him, he will exploit them to their fullest potential.