Tesla and SpaceX have each set up a committee of independent directors to look at a possible combination. That much is on the record, in Musk's own words and in both companies' quarterly filings. A price, a structure and a timetable are not.

What was announced

Musk revealed the committees on SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday 20 October. TechCrunch reported that, according to Musk, the committees were created at the request of shareholders. He told the call he could not take part in their work: "I can't actually be in the discussions of the special committees," TechCrunch quoted him as saying.

The filings followed. Tesla's 10-Q, filed on 22 October, says, as GetTesla quoted it, that its board "has formed a special committee" of disinterested directors "to explore deepening Tesla's relationship with SpaceX, which could be through certain arrangements including without limitation a business combination". The filing adds that "there is no assurance that any such Transaction will be consummated."

TeslaNorth reported that SpaceX's 10-Q, filed the same day, says its board "has formed a special committee to evaluate a potential combination between SpaceX and Tesla". It also says: "No determination by our special committee has been made regarding any potential combination". Any deal would still need approval from the special committee, SpaceX's board and its controlling shareholder, TeslaNorth reported.

What Musk said

Musk backed the idea while warning against reading too much into it. "Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes," CNBC quoted him saying. TechCrunch reported that he also cautioned that some people assume a merger is a certainty and that this would be "overstating it". He said the committees had not reached agreement on the terms of any transaction.

On the Tesla side, CNBC quoted him saying the company "will need a 50% vote of all shares", not just of those who vote, and calling that "quite a high hurdle".

How the two companies are already linked

Tesla's filing, as GetTesla summarised it, lists existing ties:

  • Tesla invested $2.00 billion in SpaceX common stock in March 2026, an interest of less than 1%.
  • Tesla recognised $221 million of revenue in the third quarter, and $626 million over nine months, from SpaceX's Megapack purchases.
  • At 30 September 2026, SpaceX owed Tesla $729 million in receivables, and deferred revenue on Megapack contracts with SpaceX stood at $648 million.

TechCrunch also described Terafab as a joint chip manufacturing project between the two companies.

Control and size

CNBC reported that Musk holds 10-to-1 supervoting shares at SpaceX and almost 80% of the voting control. At Tesla, it said, citing the company's latest proxy filing, he beneficially owns 19.8%. CNBC put SpaceX's market value at close to $2 trillion and Tesla's at around $1.5 trillion.

Analysts and markets

CNBC reported that Tesla shares fell 3% on Thursday 22 October and were down 17% for the year. SpaceX fell 9%. William Blair analysts wrote that Musk's pursuit of a merger is about control, and that "We are hard-pressed to find a material opportunity that could only be achieved by an official combination."

Steve Westly, a former Tesla board member, told CNBC he thinks the companies will move quickly to announce a proposal, ideally "before the elections if they possibly can", which CNBC tied to the midterms less than two weeks away. He and other experts quoted by CNBC pointed to regulatory hurdles, including antitrust and national-security scrutiny and a China review. China accounted for 22% of Tesla's revenue last year, CNBC said.

The financing in the background

Separately, CNBC reported on 7 October, citing a person familiar with the talks, that Apollo and several banks were in discussions to help finance SpaceX's purchase of $40 billion of Nvidia GPUs, primarily through the investment-grade debt market. The discussions were preliminary, CNBC said, and the Financial Times was first to report them. CNBC added that SpaceX had reported nearly $40 billion in debt in its second-quarter financials.

Where it stands

GetTesla reported that, as of the evening of 22 October, Tesla had not said when its committee would report. The companies' own words describe a process that has started, not a transaction. Committees exist, Musk is on record as favouring the idea, and the voting arithmetic at Tesla is, in his phrase, a high hurdle. Beyond that, the filings say little, and that is worth keeping in mind as the market trades on the headline.

Sources

CNBC (2026) 'Apollo, banks in talks to finance SpaceX's $40 billion Nvidia GPU purchase', CNBC, 7 October 2026, available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/07/spacex-nvidia-chips-apollo-financing.html (Accessed: 25 October 2026).

CNBC (2026) 'With earnings in rearview mirror, SpaceX-Tesla merger chatter takes center stage', CNBC, 23 October 2026, available at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/23/spacex-tesla-merger-chatter-takes-center-stage-after-earnings.html (Accessed: 25 October 2026).

GetTesla (2026) 'Tesla 10-Q: Board Forms Special Committee on SpaceX Combination', GetTesla, 22 October 2026, available at: https://gettesla.com/articles/tesla-10-q-board-forms-special-committee-on-spacex-combination (Accessed: 25 October 2026).

Korosec, K. (2026) 'SpaceX and Tesla boards form special committees to review merger', TechCrunch, 20 October 2026, available at: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/spacex-and-tesla-boards-form-special-committees-to-review-merger/ (Accessed: 25 October 2026).

Lee-Jones, S. (2026) 'Tesla and SpaceX Form Merger Committees, but Elon Says It's Not Certain', TeslaNorth.com, 20 October 2026 (updated 22 October 2026), available at: https://teslanorth.com/2026/10/20/elon-tesla-spacex-special-committees-merger/ (Accessed: 25 October 2026).

Picture credits

  • Top picture: Elon Musk, chief executive of both SpaceX and Tesla. Photo: U.S. Air Force / Trevor Cokley (source)