Elon Musk proposes the biggest merger in history with the union of Tesla and SpaceX

BarcelonaBillionaire Elon Musk is considering merging the businesses of Tesla and SpaceX—the two companies of which he is founder and CEO—in an operation that would become the largest corporate merger in history. In the event that it were to be consolidated, the resulting group would become the fifth most valuable by market capitalization globally, with a valuation of nearly 3.5 trillion dollars, surpassing giants like Amazon and positioning itself close to Microsoft. Ahead of it would only be Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet—Google's parent company—and the company itself founded by Bill Gates.

Musk put this option on the table during the latest press conference with analysts following the presentation of SpaceX's results. At the event, the South African-born tycoon noted that the union of both companies would have "many advantages" and that it would be "a good idea" to carry it out.

The also owner of X—formerly Twitter—has clarified that the boards of both companies have not yet reached an agreement on the terms of the possible operation. It should be remembered that Musk is both founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, a fact that prevents him from participating in the discussions of the respective boards to avoid a possible conflict of interest. Nevertheless, he will influence the final decision. Although he has shown himself to be in favor of the merger, Musk has stated that there is no guarantee that the operation will end up taking place.

Revival of SpaceX

The statements from the richest man in the world come shortly after his aerospace company recorded a net profit attributable of 4.404 billion dollars (3.926 billion euros) during the third quarter of 2026, a figure that contrasts with the losses of 1.054 billion dollars (940 million euros) recorded in the same period last year. After starring in the largest IPO in history, SpaceX has also managed to multiply its revenue by 2.5 between July and September, to 14.575 billion dollars (12.992 billion euros).

However, the company that operates the Starlink satellites continues to carry red ink in the year-to-date. During the first nine months of the fiscal year, the company lost 1.084 billion dollars (966 million euros), 58% less in year-on-year terms.

Anthropic, in million-dollar losses

SpaceX's satisfaction with its quarterly results, which the company describes as "solid," is not as present in one of its main competitors in the AI world. As the Wall Street Journal revealed yesterday, Anthropic, the creator of Claude, reportedly recorded net losses of more than 80 billion dollars (nearly 72 billion euros) in the first half of the year. This is stated in the documentation for the foreseeable IPO of the frontier artificial intelligence laboratory, which the market expects to take place in November. A large part of the worsening net result comes, according to the same outlet, from the increase in the value of bonds issued by the company that could be converted into shares.

Anthropic's financial statements are already generating doubts among investors ahead of the IPO. It should be remembered that, as several US media outlets reported, the AI company expected to land on the trading floor with a valuation of two trillion dollars (1.78 trillion euros), even higher than the operation carried out by SpaceX itself in June. Last week, however, the Reuters agency stated that some financial voices had lowered expectations and placed the tech company's future capitalization closer to 1.5 trillion dollars (1.3 trillion euros).

In addition to the valuation, capital is closely scrutinizing the company's computing infrastructure spending commitments, which could rise to 518 billion dollars (461 billion euros) in the coming years. A bucket of cold water on Anthropic's valuation would have effects on the entire AI market, which awaits its IPO as one of the events of the year.