The SpaceX IPO is here, and it’s more than just a historic public offering that could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. It reveals even more ways in which Elon Musk’s companies interact and overlap with each other, moving money around in ways that are often difficult to keep track of.
This is evident in ways that are both obvious and less so. A CTRL-F search for “Tesla” returns 87 results, with xAI mentioned 356 times and X mentioned 267 times. Even The Boring Company (7 times) and Neuralink (3) get a few mentions. In its 330 pages of rocket launches and interplanetary desires, you can trace the network of ways in which Musk’s companies deal with each other.
This is also evident from the fact that Musk’s companies are shareholders in other Musk companies, and in the process their fortunes are becoming intertwined. Based on the Form S-1 filing, Tesla owns about 19 million shares of SpaceX’s Class A common stock, which is less than 1 percent of the total outstanding stock. Tesla’s stake in xAI was converted into SpaceX shares after Elon Musk merged his AI company with his space company in February.
The IPO also reveals that SpaceX has purchased $131 million worth of Cybertrucks from Tesla “at the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.” A bloomberg Earlier this year, SpaceX was reported to have purchased 1,279 Cybertrucks due in the fourth quarter of 2025, but the IPO suggests it may have purchased a few more. As Electrek Note, without these purchases, Cybertruck registration numbers would likely be lower year over year.
Tesla’s Megapack, the company’s giant stationary storage battery, is used to stabilize SpaceX’s Colossus I and II data centers in Memphis, TN, during peak demand. Rocket Company purchased Megapacks worth $697 million from Tesla in 2024 and 2025.
SpaceX’s relationship with Musk’s Boring Company is far more bizarre in comparison. The tunneling venture has paid SpaceX about $1.2 million in office lease. And SpaceX spent about $1 million for the Boring Company to dig a tunnel at its headquarters in Bastrop, Texas.
SpaceX was valued at $1.25 trillion earlier this year after merging with Musk’s AI company XAI, which also owns XAI, formerly Twitter. The alliance meant investors would buy in at a historically high price — but Musk merged the companies at a great price for himself and for SpaceX, too. The filing revealed that Rocket Company directed about 60 percent of its capital expenditures toward xAI, or about $20 billion in 2025. but as techcrunch Note, xAI lost billions of dollars last year on revenue that grew only 22 percent year over year.
When going public, companies are required to list their risk factors, under the assumption that investors should know about all the skeletons in the closet before putting in their money. For SpaceX, the biggest risk is also the biggest asset: Elon Musk.
For SpaceX, the biggest risk is also the biggest asset: Elon Musk.
While any company, especially one as complex as SpaceX, would be expected to include a long list of risk factors in its S-1, SpaceX is unique in that it includes its own CEO. The filing clearly states that SpaceX is “highly dependent on the continued services of Mr. Musk,” noting that his leadership, vision and technical expertise are critical to the company’s future.
Like other Musk-owned companies, SpaceX acknowledges that Musk is not always 100 percent focused on SpaceX. And it acknowledges that Musk’s conflicting businesses may be cannibalizing each other in some ways. A conflict situation may arise. And if they do, Musk isn’t “restricted” from doing something that competes directly with his other companies, including SpaceX.
In the future, conflicts of interest may arise between us, on the one hand, and Mr. Musk and his owned or affiliated entities, on the other hand, regarding, among other things, business transactions, potentially competitive business activities or other opportunities…. In addition, Mr. Musk and other businesses owned or affiliated with him may now or in the future, directly or indirectly, compete with us for investment or business opportunities.
The S-1 enumerates the ways SpaceX could suffer financial losses as a result of Musk’s widespread mishandling. The company is completely dependent on their leadership, and yet said leadership can result in huge losses. (See: Tesla in 2025.)
For example, Mr. Musk currently serves as technoking and chief executive officer of Tesla and is involved in other emerging technology ventures including Neuralink and The Boring Company. Mr Musk has previously served as a senior advisor to the President of the United States. Any such loss or reduced participation in our business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects.
The tension between risk and reward is an ongoing theme throughout the filing.
We, Mr. Musk, and other companies with which Mr. Musk is affiliated often receive heavy media attention. The actions and statements of Mr. Musk and his affiliated enterprises, whether or not they directly relate to us, may attract significant public attention and scrutiny to us and potentially have a positive or negative impact on our business, relationships with customers and regulators, or stock price.
These aren’t statements you’ll find in your average S-1 filing, but SpaceX is not your typical IPO. If SpaceX establishes a “permanent” colony on Mars with “at least” one million inhabitants, Musk could make billions. He’s also a bullshit magnet who could do serious damage to SpaceX’s reputation. Musk’s companies do business and are deeply entangled with each other, according to the filing. They buy up each other’s stuff, competing with each other for RAM, AI chips, and other highly valuable components that are in ever-shorter supply.
Sometimes, its shareholders push back. In 2024, several Tesla shareholders sued Musk, claiming that he was intentionally taking talent and resources away from the company and directing it toward xAI. That lawsuit is still pending.
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