Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Credit: Daniel Oberhaus (2018) Elon Musk again teased combining Tesla and SpaceX, telling the All-In Summit “who could imagine what action one might take when there’s so much close collaboration in so many areas“. Any such deal would very likely cross the EU merger thresholds, which would stop it being implemented until the European Commission cleared it. Elon Musk was asked why he still runs Tesla and SpaceX as two separate companies. “Great question,” he said, Bloomberg reported. “Who could imagine what action one might take when there’s so much close collaboration in so many areas?” The question came from David Friedberg at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, where Musk appeared by video. The two already build together.
Terafab, a chip plant in Grimes County, Texas, has a first phase of $16.8B and is meant to supply Tesla’s cars and robots alongside SpaceX’s orbital computing. SpaceX absorbed xAI in February and listed in June, raising $75B at roughly $1.75T. It priced at $135 a share and beat Saudi Aramco’s 2019 record of $29.4B. It was the largest initial public offering ever run.
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president, was on stage shortly before him. Asked what else the company planned to buy, she said “good one“. Asked whether she liked electric cars, she said “I have a bunch“. Brussels would have to clear it.
Under the EU Merger Regulation, a deal must be notified to the Commission once combined worldwide turnover passes EUR 5B and at least two of the parties each turn over more than EUR 250M inside the bloc. Tesla clears both tests on its European car sales alone. SpaceX does not publish a European figure, and Starlink sells across most member states. Nobody outside the two companies can confirm it from public numbers.
A listed SpaceX also has stock to pay with, which is what turned the idea from a fantasy into something that looked plausible in June. Notification is not a formality. The parties cannot implement a deal before clearance. A first-phase review runs 25 working days, and a full investigation can reach 125.
Washington and Beijing would have views too. Tesla’s advisers have reportedly discussed spinning off or selling the China business, which Musk called absurdly fake news. Closing early, or failing to notify at all, carries a fine of up to 10% of worldwide turnover. The Commission would be weighing Starlink and Tesla inside one group while it spends EUR 15.6B on its own constellation.
That is a harder file than a chip plant in Texas. Also tagged with
