SpaceX IPO – On the day of SpaceX’s IPO, president Gwynne Shotwell suggested a future merger with Tesla could make Elon Musk’s life “a little easier,” while acknowledging she’s focused on the company’s immediate stability. The idea sits atop existing joint efforts between
The morning of SpaceX’s highly anticipated IPO began with history in the air—and then, almost casually, it turned toward the next possibility.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, speaking in an interview with CNBC, hinted that Elon Musk’s two public companies could one day merge. “That might make Elon’s life a little easier, actually,” she said.
Shotwell didn’t spell out what the “synergies between Tesla and SpaceX” would look like. but she pointed to overlap in what both companies are trying to achieve. “There’s no question that there’s synergies between Tesla and SpaceX in our futures, definitely,” she said. “There’s a convergence of a kind of what we’re all trying to accomplish in the future.”.
What she did not promise was timing. On the same day SpaceX is set to make its public-market debut—IPO Friday—Shotwell made clear she’s thinking about the near term first. “Right now I’m focused on keeping the lights on here,” she said.
Behind the remark is a web of collaboration and financial wiring that analysts say already resembles a merger blueprint.
SpaceX and Tesla are already working together in some areas. They are jointly running Musk’s planned $55 billion “Terafab” facility, intended to produce chips for robotics and space travel. SpaceX has also spent millions on Tesla technology. including $506 million worth of Tesla Megapack power cells and $103 million on Cybertrucks for SpaceX facilities.
Even Musk’s broader pattern of consolidation is part of why the market keeps leaning forward. In 2016. Tesla paid $2.6 billion in shares to acquire SolarCity. a solar energy company run by his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive. Musk had a 22% stake in SolarCity and served as chairman at the time. Later. after Musk bought social media website X—formerly Twitter—he merged it with his AI company xAI in a deal valued at $50 billion. In February, SpaceX acquired xAI and X.
Shotwell’s comments don’t close the door on a tie-up. They widen it—slowly, without committing to a schedule.
Analysts, meanwhile, have increasingly talked as if the merger is more destination than debate. Wedbush senior equity research analyst Dan Ives said in a note earlier this week that merging the two companies would be a “holy grail” move, letting Musk control more of the AI ecosystem.
The Tesla bull case being discussed with that framing is stark: the expectation of an 80%-plus chance of a merger. The argument isn’t only about ambition—it’s about groundwork.
In January, Tesla made a $2 billion investment in xAI. A month later. when SpaceX acquired xAI in an all-stock deal valued at $250 billion. Tesla’s $2 billion stake converted to nearly 19 million shares. Ives noted. As SpaceX debuted at a starting price of $152 and then rose quickly to $173—well above the IPO price of $135—Tesla’s stake was valued at about $3.29 billion. a roughly 64% paper gain.
Ives called the moment “Historic moment for Musk, the markets, and SpaceX. Watershed event,” in a comment to Fortune.
And even that may be just the opening move. Tesla’s stake could rise further in the coming days as analysts forecast Tesla’s stock price will climb higher.
Oppenheimer’s Timothy Horan has set a price target of $190.
Then comes the scale—because a combined SpaceX-Tesla company is the part that makes even skeptics pause. SpaceX’s valuation of more than $2.3 trillion makes it the seventh largest company in the world by market cap. and one of only 14 companies worth more than $1 trillion. Tesla. meanwhile. is neck and neck with Meta for 10th largest company in the world at a market cap of $1.5 trillion.
If the math ever turns into a merger, the combined giant could be worth more than $3 trillion—leapfrogging Amazon and Microsoft to become the fourth biggest company in the world.
That’s the upside being discussed. But governance is the real friction point—less about whether it can happen, and more about how it would be structured.
Experts told CNBC that a merger between the two companies is unlikely to face major regulatory hurdles. partly because they operate in separate industries. Even so. complicated questions would still have to be solved: which company would be the parent. how the price of the new company’s shares would be determined. and how the stock swap would be engineered.
Musk’s control also reshapes the picture of who would push back. Musk has 85% voting power at SpaceX. meaning he would not have to worry about pushback from the rocket company’s board. His stake in Tesla is lower—13%—but a giant pay package approved by shareholders in November would boost his ownership to around 25% if he hits ambitious financial and operational targets over the next decade.
Shotwell. in her comments. suggested that SpaceX’s leadership is anchored to Musk personally. even while stressing the company’s independence. “According to Shotwell. Musk is the only one who can run SpaceX. but she also made clear SpaceX is independent of him. ” the reporting notes. She added: “The company would not collapse, obviously, without Elon, but it would by no means be the same.”.
SpaceX IPO Gwynne Shotwell Tesla merger Elon Musk Terafab Tesla Megapack Cybertrucks xAI X Dan Ives Wedbush Oppenheimer price target Timothy Horan corporate consolidation