Elon Musk said both SpaceX's and Tesla's boards have created special committees made up of independent directors to evaluate a potential merger between the two companies, a step he said was requested by shareholders. Musk, who is CEO and top shareholder of both firms, said he is excluded from the committees' discussions due to his conflict of interest, and noted he personally supports a merger but cautioned it is not guaranteed to happen.
Elon Musk told investors during SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call that he supports merging SpaceX and Tesla, though he said the decision ultimately rests with shareholders. He confirmed that both companies have formed special committees of independent directors to discuss the idea, but no agreement on merger terms has been reached. Musk noted he is excluded from those committee discussions due to his conflict of interest as head of both firms.
SpaceX reported its first profitable quarter as a company, with revenue climbing 161% year-over-year. The company's AI-related revenue reportedly surged roughly 830%, even as capital spending on data center infrastructure and new technology development continued to rise.
SpaceX reported $14.6 billion in third-quarter revenue, with its renamed 'Super Intelligence' division—covering Grok, Cursor, and a neocloud data center business with 1.7 GW of compute—now accounting for 52% of income. The company posted $4.4 billion in net income despite $19.6 billion in capital spending, aided partly by roughly $1 billion from bitcoin price gains and unspecified related-party income.
Thirteen years after Orbital Sciences' Antares first flew, four new American medium-lift rockets are in development, each built with domestically manufactured engines rather than relying on foreign hardware as Antares did. The push comes as SpaceX reportedly plans to stop selling Falcon 9 launches commercially as soon as 2028, leaving a gap in the 2-to-20-metric-ton launch class.
Elon Musk disclosed on Tesla's Q3 earnings call that Tesla and SpaceX have each set up special committees of independent directors to discuss a possible merger. Musk said the committees were formed at shareholders' request and that he is not involved in the talks due to his conflict of interest as CEO of both companies. No deal terms have been reached, and any Tesla-side merger would require approval from 50 percent of all shareholders, not just those voting.
Elon Musk said during SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call that the company plans to try recovering both stages of its Starship system—the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft—during its next flight. The attempt would use launch-tower arms to catch the vehicle mid-air, aiming for what Musk called the first full recovery of an orbital launch system in history.
SpaceX posted Q3 revenue of $14.6 billion, up 161 percent year-over-year, with its newly reported Super Intelligence (SI) segment generating $7.6 billion, an 830 percent jump attributed to new cloud agreements, the Cursor acquisition, and Grok adoption. Its Connectivity unit, which includes Starlink and its 13.6 million subscribers, brought in $5.2 billion and $2.4 billion in operating income, while the core Space business earned $1.8 billion but posted a $7 million operating loss.
Reliable Robotics, an autonomous flight startup founded by SpaceX veterans, raised $115 million in an extension to its Series D round, combining $90 million in equity led by Nimble Partners and $25 million in debt from Silicon Valley Bank. The round brings its Series D total to $275 million and its cumulative funding to $380 million, pushing its valuation past $1 billion. CEO Robert Rose said the company continues to provide evidence to the FAA as it works toward certifying its autonomous flight systems.
President Trump confirmed that Elon Musk's planned gift of SpaceX stock to American children will be delivered through government-created Trump Accounts. Musk earlier said he would give one SpaceX share to every child in the country starting next year, a pledge worth roughly $10.5 billion based on Friday's valuation of SpaceX stock. Other backers, including the Dells, the Dalios, Brad Gerstner and SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, have also pledged contributions to the accounts.
Elon Musk announced on X that he plans to give one SpaceX share to every child in America starting next year, calling it 'the first of many' such gestures. SpaceX shares, which began trading publicly in June after a record IPO, closed around $146 on Friday, making the pledged giveaway worth roughly $10.7 billion based on Census Bureau estimates of about 73 million Americans under 18. Musk did not detail how the shares would be distributed or who would qualify.
Four major European telecommunications companies have announced a partnership to explore direct-to-device satellite connectivity for mobile phones. The effort is positioned as a potential rival to Elon Musk's Starlink, which already offers similar satellite-based phone connectivity in some markets.
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