Musk floats SpaceX-Tesla merger, a potential $3 trillion deal

Elon Musk announced Tuesday that SpaceX and Tesla are exploring a potential merger, a deal that would create a combined company worth over $3 trillion and rank as the largest corporate tie-up in history. Musk said the idea has "a lot of merit" due to the firms' complementary work on artificial intelligence. Special committees at both companies have been established to explore the merger, though no agreement has been reached yet. Any proposal would require approval from Tesla shareholders, with Musk noting the "high hurdle" of a 50 percent vote, and he cautioned that assuming the merger is a certainty would be "overstating it." SpaceX shares rose over 8 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement, while Tesla gained 1.8 percent. The news came as SpaceX reported its first quarterly profit of $4.4 billion, driven by growth in its AI and satellite-internet divisions.