SpaceX says potential Tesla merger would need Musk's approval

SpaceX said on Thursday its potential merger with Tesla will require controlling investor Elon Musk's approval, even though the entrepreneur has recused himself from talks between his two companies because of conflicts of interest.

Musk, the world's richest person, said on Tuesday a merger of SpaceX and Tesla would ​be "a good idea" and that they had formed special committees to discuss a union.

In a regulatory filing on Thursday, SpaceX said, "no determination by our special committee has been made regarding any potential combination, and any potential combination would be subject to further approval by our special committee, our board of directors and our controlling shareholder."


Several Wall Street analysts have said they see a Tesla-SpaceX merger as a matter of when, not if, but disagree on how much Tesla shareholders should receive in a deal.

Musk's public endorsement this week of the potential $3.5 trillion merger has also rattled some insiders involved in the discussions, ​who worry his comments could invite shareholder scrutiny and delay the process by several weeks, Reuters reported earlier on Thursday.

The disclosure created ‌a "mess" for the process, as it could lead to questions about how well Tesla shareholders' interests would be represented, a person with direct knowledge of the talks told Reuters.