Key Takeaways:
Musk boosted his Tesla voting power to nearly 20 percent, up from 13 percent, approaching the 25 percent threshold he set for leading its AI push.
"If I have 25%, it means I am influential but can be overridden if twice as many shareholders vote against me as for me. At 15% or lower, the for/against ratio to override me makes a takeover by dubious interests too easy," Musk wrote on X in 2024, saying he was "uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics" without that control.
Tesla shares are up 51 percent since Musk's 2024 posts, trailing the S&P 500's 62 percent gain over the same period. The newly exercised options give Musk immediate voting power even though they do not fully vest until January 2028. The move comes as Tesla builds out its Optimus humanoid robot and Robotaxi service, having produced only hundreds of Optimus units that are not yet for sale, with self-driving still in testing in a limited number of cities. Musk's nearly $1 trillion pay package ties targets to selling 1 million robots and putting 1 million Robotaxis on the road. Tesla trades at about $342, giving the company a market value of roughly $1.4 trillion.
A potential merger with SpaceX could concentrate even more control in Musk. If SpaceX acquired Tesla at a $2 trillion valuation, Musk would own 32 percent of the combined company with 73 percent voting power from Class B shares, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The report said Tesla would consider half of its ambitious targets achieved if it were acquired. Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, put the odds of a combination at 90 percent, while Morningstar analysts said Tesla shareholders would only approve a deal that gave Tesla 50 percent of the combined company. Tesla was mentioned 87 times in SpaceX's S-1 filing ahead of its June IPO, which valued the rocket maker at $1.77 trillion. Musk separately disclosed a 48.4 percent stake in SpaceX worth about $908 billion, according to an SEC filing.
The concentration of voting power raises governance questions for Tesla holders as the company shifts from electric vehicles to AI and robotics. Investors will watch for any formal merger announcement, with prediction markets currently pricing a 17.5 percent chance of a Tesla-SpaceX deal by year-end.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
