SpaceX Early Investor: Merger of SpaceX and Tesla Is "Just a Matter of Time"

From the perspective of an early investor, the merger of SpaceX and Tesla after SpaceX's IPO is a certainty, with the only disagreement lying in the timing. The core logic behind this judgment points to Musk's ambition to consolidate control over his business empire.

Peter Diamandis, an early investor in SpaceX and founder of the XPrize Foundation, stated on Wednesday that the merger is "not a question of whether it will happen, but when."

He pointed out that the key driver behind this transaction lies in the voting rights structure: Musk holds up to 85.1% control in SpaceX (based on figures prior to the IPO application), but at the publicly listed Tesla, his influence faces more checks and challenges from shareholders.

According to media reports in January of this year, Musk had previously discussed such transactions, even before the integration of SpaceX and xAI. Diamandis also revealed that he had communicated with Musk on this topic in both January and March of this year.

Diamandis was an early investor in SpaceX in the late 2000s, as well as a serial entrepreneur and podcast host. He founded the XPrize Foundation in the early 1990s, establishing a $10 million prize to encourage teams to develop reusable manned spacecraft and complete the challenge of two space flights within two weeks.

Control Logic: The Core Driver of the Merger

Diamandis believes that the fundamental motive for the merger stems from Musk's desire for a unified control architecture.

SpaceX's super-voting rights grant Musk near-absolute dominance in corporate governance, while Tesla's status as a public company has long exposed it to shareholder challenges regarding compensation packages and corporate governance.

Merging the two companies would enable Musk to achieve unified operational control across the entire infrastructure system.

Diamandis stated that this means he could simultaneously control Tesla's ground vehicle fleet and SpaceX's space infrastructure, including the Starship project.

Business Landscape: Global Infrastructure on Land and in Space

From a business logic perspective, the merged entity would integrate Tesla's ground transportation network with SpaceX's space infrastructure into a single whole.

Diamandis described this prospect as "global infrastructure on land and in space," specifically including the Cybercab robotaxi fleet, as well as Tesla vehicles equipped with computing power and energy capabilities.

SpaceX is currently preparing for its IPO in June of this year, which is expected by outsiders to be one of the largest tech company listings in history.

Once listed, if a merger with Tesla is pursued, it would involve share swaps or M&A transactions between two extremely large public companies, the complexity and regulatory hurdles of which should not be underestimated.