In SpaceX’s IPO, Elon Musk is a threat

The SpaceX IPO is hereand it’s more than history that would make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. It also reveals the many ways in which Elon Musk’s companies connect and integrate with one another, disrupting investment in ways that are often difficult to document.

This manifests itself in subtle and subtle ways. A CTRL-F search for “Tesla” returns 87 results, xAI is mentioned 356 times, and X 267 times. Even the Boring Company (7 times) and Neuralink (3) make fewer mentions. Throughout his 330 pages of rocket launches and global interests, you can follow the ways in which Musk’s companies interact.

It is also reflected in the ways in which Musk’s companies share in other Musk’s companies, further increasing their futures. According to the filing of the Form S-1, Tesla owns about 19 million shares of SpaceX’s Class A common stock, which is less than 1 percent of the total shares outstanding. Tesla’s stake in xAI was later converted into SpaceX shares Elon Musk merged his AI company with his aerospace company in February.

The IPO also reveals that SpaceX bought $131 million worth of Cybertrucks “at the sale price from Tesla”. A Bloomberg report earlier this year it reported that SpaceX had purchased 1,279 Cybertrucks in the fourth quarter of 2025, but the IPO suggests that it may have acquired less than that. Like Electrek documentswithout these purchases, Cybertruck registration numbers would likely have declined year over year.

Tesla’s Megapacks, the industry’s largest storage batteries, are used to power SpaceX’s Colossus I and II platforms in Memphis, TN, during peak times of need. The rocket company bought Megapacks worth $697 million from Tesla in 2024 and 2025.

SpaceX’s relationship with Musk’s Boring Company pales in comparison. The company has paid about $1.2 million for office space lease to SpaceX. And SpaceX spent nearly $1 million on 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 xAI, Musk’s AI company that also owns X, formerly Twitter. The tie-up meant investors would have to buy at a much higher price in the past — but Musk combined the companies at a great price for himself, and for SpaceX. The filing shows that the rocket company has directed about 60 percent of its capital in 2025 to xAI, or about $ 20 billion. But if Results TechCrunch documentsxAI lost billions of dollars last year on revenue that grew only 22 percent year over year.

By going public, companies have to write down risk factors, thinking that investors need to know about all the bones in the room before putting their money down. For SpaceX, the biggest threat is even more important: Elon Musk.

While any company, especially one as complicated as SpaceX, is expected to include a long list of risks in its S-1, SpaceX is unique in that it also includes their CEO. The filing makes clear that SpaceX is “highly dependent on Mr. Musk’s continued work,” recognizing that his leadership, vision, and expertise are critical to the company’s future.

Like Musk’s other companies, SpaceX admits that Musk isn’t always focused on SpaceX. And it acknowledges that Musk’s combined businesses can kill each other in some way. Conflicts may arise. And if they do, Musk is not “prohibited” from doing things that directly compete with his other companies, including SpaceX.

Conflicts of interest may arise in the future between us, on the one hand, and Mr. Musk and his affiliates or affiliates, on the other hand, related to other, commercial activities, competitive business activities or other opportunities…. In addition, Mr. Musk and other businesses that he owns or is affiliated with now, or in the future, directly or indirectly, may compete with us for financial or business opportunities.

The S-1 goes on to explain the ways in which Musk’s overt intervention could lead to financial losses for SpaceX. The company is completely dependent on its leadership, but it can still incur huge losses because of that leadership. (See: Tesla in 2025.)

For example, Mr. Musk currently serves as Technoking and Chief Executive Officer of Tesla and is involved in other technology projects, including Neuralink and The Boring Company. Mr. Musk also became a senior adviser to the President of the United States. Any such loss or reduced participation in our business could cause a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future prospects.

The pull between risk and reward is a running theme throughout.

We, Mr. Musk, and other companies Mr. Musk is associated with often receive a lot of attention. The actions and statements of Mr. Musk and his associates, whether related to us or not, may attract public attention and scrutiny to us and may have a positive or negative effect on our business, relationships with customers and regulators, or our stock price.

These aren’t the words you get in your S-1 filing, but SpaceX isn’t your IPO. Musk stands to make billions if SpaceX establishes a “permanent” station on Mars with “at least” a million people. He is also a magnet that could seriously damage SpaceX’s reputation. Musk’s companies do business with them and are very active in the way they are placed and booked. They trade things, compete with each other for RAM, AI chips, and other valuable hardware that is in short supply.

In some cases, the shareholders return. In 2024, several Tesla shareholders sued Musk on allegations that they are deliberately diverting talent and resources away from the company and towards, xAI. The case is still pending.