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Musk Says Tesla, SpaceX Are Reviewing Merger That Could Create $3.5 Trillion Giant
Summary
- Elon Musk said special committees have been formed at Tesla and SpaceX to review the possibility of a merger.
- The two companies have a combined valuation of about $3.5 trillion, meaning an actual merger could become the largest corporate tie-up in history.
- After-hours trading following the merger review and earnings announcement sent SpaceX shares up 4.6% and Tesla shares up 1.2%, though Musk said the merger has not been finalized.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, said special committees have been formed at both companies to examine a possible merger.
Bloomberg reported on October 20 that Musk made the disclosure during SpaceX’s earnings webcast. He said each company had set up a special committee to discuss a potential combination, though no agreement has been reached on specific terms.
Musk said combining the two companies would offer substantial benefits, particularly through synergies in the development of artificial superintelligence software. Because he is a conflicted party, he said, he is not directly participating in the committees’ discussions.
If completed, the deal would unite Tesla’s electric-vehicle, energy and robotics businesses with SpaceX’s launch and satellite-internet operations. It could also deepen cooperation in areas including data centers and autonomous vehicles, with AI development at the center.
The two companies have a combined valuation of about $3.5 trillion. SpaceX is valued at about $2 trillion, while Tesla is valued at about $1.5 trillion. A merger, if completed, could become the largest corporate deal in history. After the merger review disclosure and the earnings release, SpaceX shares rose 4.6% in after-hours trading, while Tesla gained 1.2%.
The companies are already closely linked commercially. SpaceX has purchased more than $100 million worth of Tesla Cybertrucks, and Musk’s AI company xAI is also a major customer for Tesla’s large-scale energy storage systems. Since SpaceX went public through an initial public offering this year, speculation about a merger with Tesla has persisted.
Musk stressed that no merger has been finalized. He said it would be an overstatement to treat a combination of the two companies as a done deal and emphasized that shareholder approval would be required. In Tesla’s case, he said, the transaction would need support from more than 50% of all shareholders, not merely a majority of those who vote.
Suehyeon Lee
shlee@bloomingbit.ioI'm reporter Suehyeon Lee, your Web3 Moderator.