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Barchart
Barchart
Sarah Holzmann

SpaceX and Tesla Explore $3.5 Trillion Merger — But a Buried Starlink Controversy Raises Governance Questions Investors Can't Ignore

SpaceX (SPCX) confirmed on October 20, 2026, that it and Tesla (TSLA) have formed special committees of independent directors to explore a historic combination worth approximately $3.5 trillion, a revelation that arrived alongside blockbuster quarterly results showing SpaceX revenue surging 161% year over year to $14.6 billion.

The merger announcement dominated investor attention on October 21, but a simultaneously emerging report — that CEO Elon Musk personally ordered a slowdown of SpaceX's Starlink service used by Ukraine's military — casts a sharp spotlight on the governance risks embedded in any deal that would hand Musk an estimated 56% to 58% voting control of the combined entity.

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