Last year, Elon Musk stressed his priority of regaining majority voting control over Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). His biggest concern at the time was control over new products — humanoid robots, in particular — that Tesla is expected to produce en masse over the coming years.
“My fundamental concern with regard to how much voting control I have in Tesla is: If I go ahead and build this enormous robot army, can I just be ousted at some point in the future?” Musk told investors last October.
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Whether investors agree with Musk’s concern or not, it is clear that he seeks majority control over Tesla’s daily operations. This has one major implication for shareholders of both Tesla and SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX).
A SpaceX and Tesla merger may not be in the interest of shareholders
While a merger between SpaceX and Tesla has not been formally announced, speculation of a potential tie-up has risen sharply after the companies launched independent committees focused on exploring the benefits of a merger.
Musk’s negotiated pay package at Tesla originally included key milestones that would trigger additional stock grants, including the deployment of one million humanoid robots. But some experts are claiming that Musk’s ambitious “enormous robot army” is a distraction from his true goal.
“It’s irrelevant,” Charles Elson, founding director of the Weinberg Center, told Reuters this week. “This package is a distraction from the real story, which is complete control.”
Musk’s pay package with SpaceX grants him additional voting power before the shares are even issued. Incorporating the new pay package, Musk now has approximately 85% voting power at SpaceX. With roughly 20% voting power at Tesla, a tie-up between the two companies could ultimately give Musk majority control over the combined entity.
SpaceX’s IPO prospectus was replete with bold long-term plans. Tesla, meanwhile, is working to sustain its lofty valuation with promises of robot armies and ubiquitous self-driving cars. Investors, however, should look deeper into these claims, understanding that a mega-merger between Tesla and SpaceX may have more to do with Musk’s economic incentives than the best interests of shareholders.
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Ryan Vanzo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Space Exploration Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
