Tesla Motors Has Poached At Least 150 Apple Inc. Employees In War For Talent

When Tesla Motors is hunting for new talent, it often looks to Apple -- more than any other company -- to fill its ranks, according to a report from Bloomberg. To date, at least 150 Apple Inc. staffers have been poached by Tesla to fill various roles in the 6,000-employee car company, from engineering to legal.

Among those hires was Doug Field, who oversaw the design of Apple’s MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac from 2008 to 2013, before he was recruited by Tesla to become VP of vehicle programs. Even earlier than Field to jump ship was Apple VP Real Estate George Blankenship, hired in 2010 to create the retail experience for Tesla’s stores.

So what’s attracting Apple employees to the electric car company?

Apple veterans now working at Tesla told Bloomberg they chose the automaker for its vehicles as well as for the chance to work with CEO Elon Musk, who “relishes” being compared with the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. But Apple is trying to fight back.

The tech firm has been doing some counter-poaching of its own from Tesla, with offers of a $250,000 signing bonus and a 60 percent salary bump. But unlike Tesla, it's been able to recruit just a few, Musk told Bloomberg.

In other industries, such as fashion and luxury products, Apple has found more success. Some of those hired in the past two years include former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts and former LVMH executive Patrick Pruniaux.