Tesla CEO Elon Musk lines up Tequila launch

Controversial energy magnate Elon Musk looks set to move into the Tequila business with the registration of the ‘Teslaquila’ brand name.

Elon Musk has hinted that Teslaquila is ‘coming soon’

Automotive and energy firm Tesla, where Musk acts as CEO, applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office to register Teslaquila last week. Documents identify the product type as ‘distilled agave liquor’ and ‘distilled blue agave liquor’.

On Friday, Musk sent a tweet that linked to a CNBC news story on the matter and read: ‘Teslaquila coming soon…’ He also revealed a ‘visual approximation’ of the bottle design.

Visual approximation pic.twitter.com/sMn3Pv476Y

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 12, 2018

If Tesla’s plans come to fruition, Musk would follow a line of famous faces that have moved into Tequila. Most recently, Sex and the City actor Chris Noth acquired a majority stake in ultra-premium brand Ambhar.

Last year, former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine launched Tequila and mezcal hybrid Santo Puro Mezquila. In 2016, rock band AC/DC partnered with Fabrica de Tequilas Finos to launch Thunderstruck Tequila.

One of the first celebrity movers in Tequila was pop superstar Justin Timberlake, who collaborated with Beam Suntory’s Casa Sauza to create Sauza 901 Tequila in 2014. Meanwhile, Hollywood actor George Clooney recently sold his Casamigos Tequila brand to drinks giant Diageo in a deal worth US$1 billion.