In brief
Elon Musk said he is actively exploring a merger between Tesla and SpaceX, his two flagship companies. While a combination could create one of the biggest corporate deals in history, Musk insists specialist committees must reach terms and gain shareholder approval. The potential merger would bring together electric‑vehicle and space‑launch assets, as well as overlapping AI and chip development efforts. Critics note SpaceX's Starlink network and Starshield service have faced scrutiny over limited access to Ukraine, prompting Musk to hint at policy interference. Market reaction has been positive, with SpaceX shares up 8% after-hours and Tesla up 2%.
Elon Musk has said he is actively considering merging Tesla and SpaceX, his two biggest companies.
"Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes," Musk said during a call with financial analysts to discuss SpaceX's latest results on Tuesday.
Musk noted it could not be assumed a merger will go ahead, and it would need shareholders' support. He said special committees within both companies had been formed to examine the move.
The special committees have not reached agreement on terms of any transaction and there's no guarantee they will, he said. "But I do think there is a lot of merit to merging and a lot to be gained."
With Tesla valued at roughly $1.5 trillion (£1.1 trillion) and SpaceX at $2 trillion, a combination would mark one of the largest mergers in history.
SpaceX builds space rockets as well as Starlink Internet satellites and provides a secured satellite network for governments, including the US, through its Starshield business.
That part of the business is currently facing scrutiny over claims Ukraine's access to the network has been limited, leaving it vulnerable to deadly strikes by Russia.
US President Donald Trump has denied either he or Musk ordered the slowdown. Musk himself suggested the US government might have been behind the restrictions.
Starlink's total revenue rose to $5.2bn in the three months to 30 September from $3bn in the same period last year. It is dwarfed by SpaceX's expansion into offering cloud compute capacity for other tech companies, such as Anthropic and Google.
The business generated revenues of $7.5bn over the three months, up from $813m last year.
SpaceX, as a whole is not profitable, despite revenue jumping to $27bn from $13.7bn over the first nine months of the year.
Over that same period it lost $1.1bn although it did report a $4.4bn profit for the most recent three months.
Following Musk's comments, SpaceX's share price rose 8% in after‑hours trading. Shares in Tesla, which reports its own quarterly results on Wednesday, rose by 2%.
Over the last year, Musk has taken to bringing more of his companies under fewer banners. Before it went public earlier this year, SpaceX acquired xAI and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, both of which Musk owned.
The recent launch of Terafab, a combined effort to manufacture computer chips between Tesla and SpaceX, was another signal that Musk sees his companies as potentially more effective when working together.
Musk said on Tuesday a full merger between the two companies would make sense for the work each is doing around chips, artificial intelligence and software.
