Herbert Diess, new CEO of Volkswagen
Sean Gallup | Getty
Shares of Tesla initially rose Thursday on a report that Volkswagen’s CEO was interested in buying a stake in the company, but the stock pared some of its gains once a Volkswagen spokesperson denied the report.
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess’ supposed interest in acquiring a stake in Tesla was first reported by German business publication Manager Magazin, according to Reuters. The report cited company sources who told the magazine that Diess thinks Volkswagen could stand to benefit from Tesla’s expertise in batteries and software.
Shares of Tesla rose 2% during premarket trading Thursday after the initial report but pared gains after a Volkswagen spokesperson denied the report.
Volkswagen spokesman Pietro Zollino denied the report to CNBC, saying in a statement, “It’s completely unfounded. It’s pure speculation.”
Tesla’s stock was still up more than 1% during early morning trading.
-CNBC’s Dawn Kopecki contributed to this report.
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