Tesla Bull Has ‘Dream’ Tim Cook Will Help Elon Musk Run Company

(Bloomberg) -- A bull can always dream.

Ross Gerber, the chief executive officer of fund manager Gerber Kawasaki Inc. and one of the most outspoken bullish investors in Tesla Inc., told Bloomberg Television on Monday there's “no doubt” that the electric-car maker needs a skilled operator to swoop in and help Elon Musk. When asked who he'd want, Gerber responded with a doozy of an idea: Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook.

“That logistical expertise is exactly what he did for Steve Jobs,” Gerber said of Cook, who was chief operating officer and interim CEO of Apple before succeeding the late co-founder when he died in 2011. “It's like a perfect match. It's like a match in heaven. I dream of this day, which may never happen, but you know, god, it's a dream.”

The New York Times reported on Friday that efforts were underway at Tesla to find a No. 2 executive to take pressure off Musk, 47, though a person familiar with the board's thinking later told Bloomberg News that the company wasn't actively searching for a COO. The Times quoted the CEO describing his use of a prescription drug to sleep and of the toll that leading Tesla has taken on his personal life.

“Sometimes even very smart people don't realize how big a hole they're in and how much help they really need,” Gerber said. “I'm kind of hoping all this is that wake-up call for the board of directors and Elon on building the depth in management that Tesla clearly needs if it's going to be a $300 billion, $400 billion, $500 billion company one day.”

--With assistance from Scarlet Fu and Lisa Abramowicz.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jamie Butters in Southfield, Michigan, at jbutters@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, David Welch

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