SpaceX and Tesla Merger Talks Advance, With a Deal Possible as Soon as December

SPCX SpaceX and TSLA Tesla are progressing in their merger negotiations, and a deal could be announced as early as December, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, according to Reuters and other outlets. No terms have been signed and the deal could still slip into 2027. Combined, the two companies are worth roughly $3.5 trillion, which would make it the largest corporate deal ever.

The open question for Tesla holders is the exchange ratio. Bank of America analyst Alexander Perry expects SpaceX to buy Tesla with stock rather than cash, and estimates that at a 20% premium, using Oct. 20 prices, Tesla holders would own about 47% of the combined company. That 20% is the analyst's assumption, not a disclosed term. With Tesla at $393.65 and SpaceX at $140.33 when BeInCrypto published, one Tesla share equaled about 2.8 SpaceX shares before any premium, and Barclays estimates Elon Musk would hold about 56% of the combined voting power.

The hurdles are real. Musk controls more than 80% of SpaceX's votes, but Tesla's charter requires approval from a majority of all outstanding shares, so abstentions count as no votes; that rule sank a 2025 non-binding proposal on investing in xAI despite more votes for than against. Musk has said treating the merger as a certainty would be "overstating it," and independent committees, not Musk, now set the pace. Bloomberg reported Musk wants the deal closed while President Trump is in office, while Democrats won both chambers of Congress on Nov. 3, and Perry named China, where Tesla builds about half its cars, as the main regulatory risk.

Tesla's Dec. 3 annual meeting has no merger item on the ballot, so an announcement would start the clock on a separate shareholder vote. Investors will watch for an official statement from either company, the premium and exchange ratio in any signed terms, and early signals on how Tesla's broad shareholder base, including passive holders who often do not vote, would turn out.