Musk Pushes SpaceX Tesla Merger With December Announcement Possible
Bloomberg reports that SpaceX and Tesla are negotiating merger terms and post-deal governance, with an agreement possible as early as December or slipping into early 2027; a combined entity would be worth roughly $3.45 trillion, making it one of the largest corporate mergers ever. The deal would fold EVs, energy storage, rockets, satellites and AI into one company, but SpaceX's US defense contracts and Tesla's China operations pose regulatory conflicts, and shareholder approval remains a hurdle.
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IT之家 November 13 news, according to Bloomberg's report on November 12 local time, two core companies under Musk are advancing merger negotiations, and the boards of directors and advisory teams of both sides are currently negotiating transaction terms, the governance structure of the merged company, and other matters.
People familiar with the matter revealed that merger negotiations between SpaceX and Tesla are making progress, and the two sides are expected to announce a merger agreement in December, possibly delayed until early 2027 at the latest. If the deal is ultimately reached, it will become one of the largest corporate mergers in the world.
The report said the negotiations also include how many shares SpaceX needs to issue to Tesla's existing shareholders to complete the transaction. Representatives of Tesla and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
If the merger is completed, the new company will integrate businesses including electric vehicles, energy storage batteries, rockets, satellites, and artificial intelligence. The business integration of the two companies is related to Musk's plan to apply AI technology to fields such as space exploration, self-driving cars, and humanoid robots.
However, the deal still faces multiple obstacles, including regulatory and shareholder approvals. Among them, how to handle Tesla's business in China is one of the issues the two sides need to resolve. SpaceX holds U.S. government and defense contracts, while Tesla has large-scale and highly profitable manufacturing operations in China, and the two may conflict in terms of regulatory requirements.
JPMorgan analyst Rajat Gupta pointed out in a research report to clients last month that SpaceX's U.S. defense contracts and Tesla's business footprint in China are two key factors affecting whether the transaction obtains approval from regulators and shareholders.
The current merger negotiations also have prior groundwork. Elon Musk said at SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call in October that the boards of the two companies had separately established special committees composed of independent directors to study the merger.
Musk said that because he serves as CEO of both companies, there is a conflict of interest, so he will not participate in the discussions of the special committees. He said at the time that he believed merging the two companies was a good idea, but the final decision rests with the special committees.
As of the close of the most recent trading day, SpaceX's market value was approximately $1.90 trillion, Tesla's market value was approximately $1.55 trillion, and the combined market value of the two companies was approximately $3.45 trillion (IT之家 note: about 23.07 trillion yuan at current exchange rates).
In fact, the two companies already have a business partnership, including jointly advancing the Terafab semiconductor manufacturing project in Texas, United States. Musk previously said that the project is expected to produce the first batch of test chips in May or June 2027, and plans to achieve mass production in the third quarter of 2028.