By Al Root
SpaceX generated enormous buzz on Wednesday, finally making its S-1 IPO registration statement public.
Investors are poring over the details, looking for tidbits that can give them an edge in valuing Elon Musk's rocket company. One thing not to miss: Tesla and SpaceX have grown very close.
For starters, the word "Tesla" shows up 87 times in the S-1. That's a lot considering "Musk" shows up 174 times.
Some of the collaborations between SpaceX and Tesla are known. Tesla invested in xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February, giving the EV maker a stake in SpaceX. Tesla owns about 19 million shares of SpaceX.
Both companies are leaning heavily into AI. SpaceX plans to build orbital data centers. ("Orbital" appears 163 times.) Tesla is building AI-trained robo-taxis and robots. AI applications will require many advanced chips, so Tesla and SpaceX are building a " Terafab" chip-making facility to be run with Intel's help. The prospectus also details the creation of a digital AI assistant.
As for things that might be new for investors, Ira Ehrenpreis serves as a director on both companies. Other SpaceX board members, Antonio Gracias and Steve Jurvetson, were previously Tesla directors.
Tesla, which buys a lot of hardware for its cars, helps SpaceX with purchasing. xAI also purchased services from Tesla in the past. SpaceX has also bought energy storage systems from the EV maker.
And Tesla has advertised on X, formerly Twitter, which was merged with xAI.
"We plan to explore other areas of strategic collaboration with Tesla in the future," reads part of the prospectus.
That, and the growing ties, will continue to fuel speculation Tesla and SpaceX will one day merge into a megacorporation run by Musk.
It won't likely happen before the IPO, so investors can think more about that later.
For now, they can focus on the rocket company raising $75 billion, valuing it at $2 trillion or more.
With the S-1 public, the IPO roadshow can start in about two weeks. The IPO should be wrapped up by late June.
Tesla stock was down 0.7% in after-hours trading after a very strong day. Shares closed at $417.26, up 3.3%.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2026 19:17 ET (23:17 GMT)
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