SpaceX-Tesla Merger Talk Heats Up as Musk Readies Nasdaq Debut

CNBC reported Tuesday that speculation around a SpaceX Tesla merger is building as the rocket company prepares to list on the Nasdaq in roughly two weeks. Sources familiar with internal discussions say Elon Musk has floated the idea of combining his two flagship companies with close colleagues.

IPO Countdown Puts Merger Talk in Focus

SpaceX recently secured a private market valuation of $1.25 trillion after absorbing Musk’s AI venture xAI earlier this year. Tesla currently carries a market capitalization of around $1.6 trillion. Musk is expected to begin SpaceX’s investor roadshow next week, pitching Wall Street on a company that has grown into a sprawling conglomerate. That entity now spans reusable rockets, the Starlink satellite internet service, the xAI platform, social network X and a pending $60 billion acquisition of AI coding tool Cursor.

Also Read: What SpaceX’s xAI Merger Means for the AI Arms Race

Shared Resources Underpin the Case for a Deal

The two companies already operate with significant overlap. Musk sits on both boards alongside his brother Kimbal and venture capitalist Ira Ehrenpreis. Several board members have crossed between the two firms over the years. A shared vice president of materials engineering works across both companies simultaneously. Tesla disclosed a $2 billion investment in xAI in January, which effectively converted into a SpaceX stake after the xAI merger closed. SpaceX’s own prospectus reveals it purchased nearly $700 million worth of Tesla Megapack battery storage systems across 2024 and 2025.

Also Read: Tesla Earnings Show Capex Set to Triple This Year

AI Ambitions Drive the Logic

Analysts and insiders point to artificial intelligence as the real connective tissue. More than three-quarters of SpaceX’s $10.1 billion in first-quarter capital expenditure went toward AI infrastructure. Tesla has guided for capex to exceed $25 billion this year as it deepens AI investment. Tomasz Tunguz, a venture capitalist at Theory Ventures and former engineer, told CNBC that each company faces extreme constraints around power, compute and thermal management, making shared R&D a natural fit. The complexity of executing a deal at this scale remains a significant hurdle, he cautioned.

A Tesla employee told CNBC the possibility of a tie-up is openly discussed inside the company. Neither SpaceX nor Tesla responded to requests for comment from CNBC’s reporters.

Read Next: Musk’s xAI Absorbs X in All-Stock Deal Valuing Platform at $33 Billion