Musk Wants to Combine Tesla and SpaceX in a $3.7 Trillion Deal Before Trump Leaves Office, per Bloomberg
Elon Musk wants to combine Tesla and SpaceX in a deal worth about $3.7 trillion, per Bloomberg, and his backers are racing to announce it by the first half of 2027 so it can close while Trump is still in office.
Musk is racing to merge his two biggest companies
Elon Musk wants to combine Tesla and SpaceX in a $3.7 trillion deal, and he is rushing to get it done before Trump leaves office, per Bloomberg.
A combination of $TSLA and SpaceX would bring together companies worth around $3.7 trillion, making it the largest corporate transaction ever attempted. Musk gave his strongest public endorsement yet on SpaceX's earnings call this week, calling a combination a good idea. He also said he would recuse himself from the process, leaving special committees of independent directors at both companies to work through the terms, which have not been settled.
The clock is political
People familiar with the matter say there is a push to announce a deal by the first half of 2027, leaving enough time to close it during the Trump administration, when the regulatory environment is seen as favorable. Two risks are shaping that timeline. The midterm elections are less than two weeks away, and Democratic control of either chamber of Congress could open Musk and his companies to investigations. A sustained selloff in chip and AI stocks could also erode the investor support a deal this size needs.
The hard part is Tesla's shareholders
Shareholder approval is less of an obstacle at SpaceX, where Musk controls about 84% of the voting power. At Tesla, where he owns roughly 20% of the stock and every share carries one vote, it will be harder, though Tesla's board and shareholders did approve a trillion-dollar pay package for him less than a year ago. JPMorgan has flagged a structural tension for regulators and shareholders: SpaceX holds sensitive national security contracts, while Tesla has a large manufacturing footprint in China.
SpaceX stock has become an attractive currency for a deal. The shares fell below their $135 IPO price after the June listing, then rose 47% from August 5 into this week, and they jumped another 9% on Wednesday after the report, while Tesla rose 2.5%. Analysts estimate the combined company would employ more than 155,000 people and generate about $153 billion in revenue this year, alongside deeply negative free cash flow as spending on AI infrastructure, chip plants, and rockets keeps climbing.
Do you want to see how to make more plays? Do you want to find gains yourself? Unusual Whales helps you find market opportunities through our market tide, historical options flow, GEX, and much, much more. Create a free account here to start conquering the market with Unusual Whales
Options market and stocks to watch
The direct reads are Tesla and SpaceX. Merger headlines of this size typically mean elevated implied volatility and headline-driven flow in both names, and because SpaceX stock would be the deal currency, its price effectively sets the terms Tesla shareholders are being offered. Watch for special committee updates, any announced exchange ratio, and the shareholder vote timeline, and follow the story on the Unusual Whales news feed.
Want more market intelligence? Create your free Unusual Whales account for options flow, market tide, GEX, and the full toolkit.