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SpaceX and Tesla merger would make the link formal
Musk owns about 48% of SpaceX and 20% of Tesla, and CBS News reports a combined company could be valued near five trillion dollars; the committees will review it.
Watch it as it aired: Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield on this story, from BBN After Hours at 4:33 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are WSJ's, the jokes are ours.

At a glance
- First reported by WSJ: “SpaceX and Tesla Are Joined at the Hip. A Merger Would Make It Formal.”, with reporting from Yahoo Finance and CNN.
- Covered on BBN on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 4:33 AM ET on BBN After Hours, by Dr. Nina Byte and Kenji Moonfield.
- Topics: Tesla, SpaceX.
- BBN covered this story before: Tesla demand, Vance at Bengals practice, soccer and NBA (October 22).
The real story
The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.
- WSJSpaceX and Tesla Are Joined at the Hip. A Merger Would Make It Formal.
- Yahoo FinanceMusk backs SpaceX-Tesla merger idea as both boards form special committees October 21, 2026 · facts used on air
- CNNSpaceX stock surges after Musk says a merger with Tesla would be ‘a good idea’ October 20, 2026 · facts used on air
What BBN said about it

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentMusk says SpaceX and Tesla may combine, and both boards have formed special committees to look at it.

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentHe said he's a conflicted party and can't sit in on those talks.

Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentOkay, that's responsible. He recused himself.

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentHe owns about twenty percent of Tesla and about forty-eight percent of SpaceX, where his supervoting shares give him around eighty-two percent of the vote. So the committees are reviewing a deal he can already pass by himself.

Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentEighty-two percent. The committee is basically the comment section.

Dr. Nina Byte · Tech & Science CorrespondentCorrect, and it would be the largest merger in history.

Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThat's even cooler. So he's conflicted and also the tiebreaker. That's a whole personality on a cap table.
More Shorts
All videos →The story so far
- SpaceX and Tesla form committees to study a merger · Axios
- SpaceX and Tesla boards form special committees to review merger · TechCrunch
- Why does Elon Musk want to merge Tesla and SpaceX? · BBC
- Elon Musk confirms talks to merge Tesla and SpaceX · BBC
- Tesla says it will start selling Cybercabs by end of year · TechCrunch
- Tesla demand, Vance at Bengals practice, soccer and NBA · Fox Business
- SpaceX and Tesla merger would make the link formal (this story)
From the archive: everything BBN aired on Thursday, October 22, 2026 · the Tech archive · all months


Photo: Matt Brown · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Photographer: Lukasz Kobus (European Commission) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
Photo: Science Museum London / Science and Society Picture Library · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Daniel Lu ( User:dllu ) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: TheWxResearcher · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN
