SpaceX and Tesla mega-merger under discussion

The outlines of MegaMusk Inc. are starting to emerge, where special committees of SpaceX and Tesla directors will now have to bless the merger. Combining the two would bring the tech and infrastructure parts of Musk’s empire together (the Wall Street pitch) and a hyperconcentrated bet on the billionaire’s inventions, politics, and personality (the actual pitch).

Musk already rolled up X, xAI, and SpaceX, whose June IPO paved the way for the Tesla deal. Many of Musk’s projects already bleed into each other — the new Roadster has SpaceX thrusters — and Musk’s employees often work interchangeably across his companies, so there’s some business and governance sense in formalizing what’s already happening. But it’s clear Musk is again using Tesla’s shareholders — and its massive retail investor base — to fund his other exploits, just as he did in 2016 when Tesla bailed out his cash-strapped solar company, SolarCity, and, more recently, when he reallocated Tesla talent and GPUs to xAI.

While Musk says he’ll recuse himself from the decision, his companies’ boards don’t have a history of pushing back. Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm told Semafor last year she was skeptical of Tesla investing in xAI; four months later, it invested $2 billion. And a combo would further strengthen Musk’s control over Tesla: Super-voting shares give him roughly 84% of the vote at SpaceX, compared to 20% at Tesla, where every share has equal voting weight.