{"id":608,"date":"2026-05-21T04:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=608"},"modified":"2026-05-21T04:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:53:10","slug":"spacex-ipo-elon-musk-tesla-cybertruck-xai-risk-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=608","title":{"rendered":"In SpaceX\u2019s IPO, Elon Musk is a risk factor"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The SpaceX IPO is here<\/a>, and it\u2019s more than just an historic public offering that could make Elon Musk the world\u2019s first trillionaire. It also reveals more ways in which Elon Musk\u2019s companies interact and overlap with each other, shuffling money around in ways that are often difficult to keep track of.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This is evident in ways that are both obvious and less so. A CTRL-F search for \u201cTesla\u201d yields 87 results, xAI is mentioned 356 times, and X 267 times. Even the Boring Company (7 times) and Neuralink (3) get a few mentions. Throughout its 330 pages of rocket launches and interplanetary wishes, you can trace the network of ways in which Musk\u2019s companies deal with each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s also evident in the ways Musk\u2019s companies are shareholders in other Musk companies, further intertwining their fates in the process. Based on the Form S-1 filing, Tesla owns nearly 19 million shares of SpaceX\u2019s Class A common stock, which is less than 1 percent of the total outstanding stock. Tesla\u2019s stake in xAI was converted to SpaceX shares after Elon Musk merged his AI company with his space company<\/a> in February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The IPO also reveals SpaceX bought $131 million worth of Cybertrucks \u201cat manufacturer\u2019s suggested retail price from Tesla.\u201d A Bloomberg <\/em>report<\/a> earlier this year suggested that SpaceX bought 1,279 Cybertrucks in the fourth quarter of 2025, but the IPO suggests it has probably acquired a few more than that. As Electrek <\/em>notes<\/a>, without these purchases, Cybertruck registration numbers likely would have gone down year over year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tesla\u2019s Megapacks, the company\u2019s giant stationary storage batteries, are used to stabilize SpaceX\u2019s Colossus I and II data centers in Memphis, TN, during peak demand. The rocket company purchased $697 million worth of Megapacks from Tesla in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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SpaceX\u2019s relationship with Musk\u2019s Boring Company is much more quaint in comparison. The tunneling venture has paid about $1.2 million in office leases to SpaceX. And SpaceX spent about $1 million for the Boring Company to dig a tunnel at its headquarters in Bastrop, Texas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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SpaceX was valued at $1.25 trillion earlier this year after merging with xAI, Musk\u2019s AI company that also owns X, formerly Twitter. The tie-up means investors will be buying in at a historically high price \u2014 but Musk combined the companies at great cost to himself, and also SpaceX. The filing showed that the rocket company directed about 60 percent of its capital spending in 2025 toward xAI, or about $20 billion. But as TechCrunch<\/em> notes<\/a>, xAI lost billions of dollars last year on revenue that grew by only 22 percent year over year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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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 their money down. For SpaceX, the biggest risk is also the biggest asset: Elon Musk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For SpaceX, the biggest risk is also the biggest asset: Elon Musk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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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\u2019s is unique in that it includes its own CEO. The filing explicitly states that SpaceX is \u201chighly dependent on the continued services of Mr. Musk,\u201d noting that his leadership, vision, and technical expertise are critical to the company\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Like other Musk-owned companies, SpaceX acknowledges that Musk isn\u2019t always 100 percent focused on SpaceX. And it admits that Musk\u2019s intersecting businesses may end up cannibalizing each other in some way. Conflicts could arise. And if they do, Musk is not \u201crestricted\u201d from doing something that directly competes with his other companies, including SpaceX.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Conflicts of interest could arise in the future between us, on the one hand, and Mr. Musk and entities owned by or affiliated with him, on the other hand, concerning among other things, business transactions, potential competitive business activities or other opportunities\u2026. Furthermore, Mr. Musk and other businesses owned by or affiliated with him may now, or in the future, directly or indirectly, compete with us for investment or business opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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The S-1 goes on to enumerate the ways in which Musk\u2019s extensive entanglements could result in financial loss for SpaceX. The company is completely dependent on his leadership, and yet could also incur big losses as a result of said leadership. (See: Tesla in 2025<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For instance, 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 also previously served as Senior Advisor to the President of the United States. Any such loss or reduced involvement in our business could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and future prospects.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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The pull between risk and reward is a running theme throughout the filing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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We, Mr. Musk, and other companies Mr. Musk is affiliated with frequently receive an immense amount of media attention. The actions and statements of Mr. Musk and his affiliated ventures, whether or not directly relating to us, may draw significant public attention and scrutiny to us and could potentially have a positive or negative impact on our business, relationships with customers and regulators, or stock price.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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These are not statements you find in your average S-1 filing, but SpaceX is not your typical IPO. Musk stands to make billions if SpaceX establishes a \u201cpermanent\u201d colony on Mars with \u201cat least\u201d a million inhabitants. He\u2019s also a shit magnet that could do serious damage to SpaceX\u2019s reputation. Musk\u2019s companies do business with and are deeply entangled with each other in ways laid bear by the filing. They buy each others stuff, compete with each other for RAM, AI chips, and other ultra valuable components that are increasingly in short supply.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Occasionally, his shareholders push back. In 2024, several Tesla shareholders sued Musk<\/a> over claims he was knowingly diverting talent and resources away from the company and directing it toward, xAI. That lawsuit is still pending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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