SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss a possible merger, Elon Musk revealed during SpaceX's earnings call for the third quarter of 2026. The committees were formed at the request of shareholders and are made up of independent directors from both companies. Musk, who serves as CEO of both firms, cannot take part in the discussions because he is considered a "conflicted party," along with his brother Kimbal Musk.
Tesla lists seven independent directors and SpaceX lists six. Ira Ehrenpreis, chairperson of Tesla's Compensation and Nominating and Governance committees, also joined SpaceX's board in February, yet both companies still list him as independent. Tesla is also now a SpaceX shareholder, after its $2 billion investment in xAI became SpaceX stock following SpaceX's acquisition of Musk's AI company. Musk controls about 82 percent of voting power at SpaceX, according to Fortune, so his vote will decide the outcome there. At Tesla, a merger requires a 50 percent vote from all shareholders, not just those who vote, making the process far more complicated.
Musk warned that a merger is not certain. The committees have yet to reach any agreement, and it is unclear how far the talks have progressed. He said there is "a lot of merit" to combining the companies, citing gains from cooperation on superintelligence software, chip design and robotics.
A merged company would be worth trillions of dollars, with Musk at the helm. According to the BBC, it would give him more control over operations than he currently has at Tesla, which he has long sought in order to steer the automaker's AI and robotics direction.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing