Elon Musk is about to take SpaceX public, and the move is reigniting speculation across Silicon Valley and Wall Street that his long-term goal may be to combine the company and Tesla into a single corporate empire.
According to a CNBC report citing people familiar with internal discussions, Musk has spoken with colleagues about the possibility of eventually folding the companies together.
CNBC recalled that SpaceX obtained a private-market valuation of roughly $1.25 trillion earlier this year after merging with Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI, while Tesla's market capitalization currently sits near $1.6 trillion. If SpaceX debuts publicly at those levels, Musk could simultaneously control two of the most valuable companies in the United States.
SpaceX disclosed in its prospectus that more than three-quarters of its $10.1 billion in first-quarter capital expenditures were tied to AI-related infrastructure. Tesla, meanwhile, recently told investors that its own capital expenditures are expected to triple this year, surpassing $25 billion as the automaker expands robotaxi, humanoid robotics, and AI initiatives.
"Tesla has to run powerful AI systems inside a moving vehicle with tight limits on power, cooling, latency, reliability and cost," venture capitalist Tomasz Tunguz told the outlet. "SpaceX has to think about compute in orbit, where radiation, thermal cycling, launch mass, power generation and heat rejection all become existential design constraints."
The relationship between the companies already runs deep financially and operationally. CNBC recalled that Tesla invested $2 billion into xAI earlier this year, a stake that later became part of SpaceX after the rocket company merged with Musk's AI startup.
SpaceX also disclosed spending nearly $700 million on Tesla Megapack battery systems in 2024 and 2025 to power xAI data centers near Memphis, Tennessee. Another $131 million reportedly went toward Tesla Cybertrucks purchased at retail price. CNBC reported that in 2024, Nvidia redirected a $500 million GPU order from Tesla to xAI at Musk's request.
Some investors believe a merger could make strategic sense as AI becomes the center of Musk's business universe. Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki told CNBC that combining SpaceX and Tesla could simplify fundraising and borrowing while helping Musk compete against AI giants such as Google.
Legal experts cited by the outlet noted that questions involving valuation, stock swaps, and corporate control could become contentious among shareholders and that Musk's influence over SpaceX may reduce internal resistance. The company disclosed in its prospectus that Musk controls roughly 85% of voting power, making SpaceX a "controlled company" under Nasdaq governance rules. For Musk personally, the financial incentives are massive.
SpaceX reportedly tied future compensation rewards to achieving a $7.5 trillion market valuation and eventually establishing a self-sustaining colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants. Tesla's compensation structure also remains heavily linked to valuation milestones. Neither company responded to CNBC's requests for comment. No merger has been formally announced.
