SpaceX and Tesla boards form special committees to review merger

According to TechCrunch, the boards of SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees of independent directors to review a possible merger, created at the request of shareholders.

Elon Musk, chief executive and largest individual shareholder of both companies, said he cannot participate in the committee discussions because he is a conflicted party. He supports the idea of a merger but cautioned it is not certain, noting the special committees have not agreed on any terms. Musk said combining the companies has merit given cooperation on artificial intelligence software, robotics, SpaceX’s orbital AI data center project Starmind, and the joint chip manufacturing project Terafab.

The SpaceX initial public offering gave Musk more than 50 percent voting power, making shareholder support easier to secure at SpaceX, while Tesla would require a 50 percent vote from all shareholders, not only those who vote. Tesla has seven independent directors and SpaceX lists six, according to company filings.

Source

SpaceX and Tesla boards form special committees to review merger — TechCrunch