Merging SpaceX and Tesla would be a "good idea," Musk says

Elon Musk said Tuesday that he would like to see the consolidation of his business empire by formally merging his two largest companies, SpaceX and Tesla. “Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes,” Musk said of a potential merger. He was speaking during a question-and-answer period as part of SpaceX’s third-quarter earnings call.

埃隆·马斯克周二表示，他希望通过正式合并其旗下两家最大的公司——SpaceX和特斯拉，来实现其商业帝国的整合。“我认为这是一个好主意吗？是的，”马斯克在谈到潜在合并时说道。他是在SpaceX第三季度财报电话会议的问答环节中发表上述言论的。

Musk said, ultimately, it not his decision. “But at the end of the day the shareholders have to be supportive of this.” Musk’s talk of a merger comes after a busy year in which SpaceX already acquired Musk’s artificial intelligence firm, xAI, in February. In June, SpaceX went public with the largest initial public offering on record.

马斯克表示，归根结底，这并非他一人能决定的。“但最终，股东们必须支持这一点。”马斯克谈论合并之前，他经历了一个忙碌的年份：SpaceX已于2月收购了马斯克的人工智能公司xAI。6月，SpaceX进行了史上规模最大的首次公开募股（IPO）。

At the request of shareholders of each company, Musk said both SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees of “independent directors” to discuss the idea of a merger. “I’m a conflicted party; I can’t actually be in the discussions of the special committees,” Musk said. Those committees have not reached an agreement on the terms of a merger transaction, Musk said.

应两家公司股东的要求，马斯克表示，SpaceX和特斯拉都已成立由“独立董事”组成的特别委员会，以讨论合并事宜。“我是利益相关方，实际上我无法参与特别委员会的讨论，”马斯克说。他表示，这些委员会尚未就合并交易的条款达成一致。

“Obviously there’s no guarantee that they will, but I do think there’s a lot of merit to combining the companies as we are pretty much in the superintelligence singularity,” Musk said. “There’s lots to be gained from cooperating on developing superintelligence software, chip design, the Terafab, obviously robotics, mass to orbit with the Starmind constellation, and connectivity. So I think it would be a good idea.”

“显然，不能保证他们一定会达成协议，但我确实认为合并这两家公司有很多优点，因为我们几乎已经处于超级智能奇点之中，”马斯克说。“在开发超级智能软件、芯片设计、Terafab、机器人技术、利用Starmind星座实现大规模入轨以及连接性方面进行合作，将大有可为。所以我认为这是一个好主意。”

What is even happening here? It might seem like madness to merge a space business with an automotive business, but both SpaceX and Tesla are rapidly transitioning from their original markets into artificial intelligence. In its public financial documents, SpaceX has indicated that the bulk of its future revenues are likely to come from orbital data centers that will provide the backbone of computing for artificial intelligence on Earth.

这到底是怎么回事？将太空业务与汽车业务合并看起来似乎很疯狂，但SpaceX和特斯拉都在迅速从各自的原始市场向人工智能转型。SpaceX在其公开财务文件中指出，其未来大部分收入可能来自轨道数据中心，这些中心将为地球上的人工智能提供计算骨干。

Tesla sees its future in sophisticated self-driving cars, robots, and industrial hardware. Both enterprises would require advanced computer chips and energy. SpaceX could provide the connectivity for Tesla hardware. Beyond these synergies, the merger would be attractive to Musk—already the world’s richest person and first trillionaire—because it would give him more control.

特斯拉将其未来寄托于先进的自动驾驶汽车、机器人和工业硬件。这两家企业都需要先进的计算机芯片和能源。SpaceX可以为特斯拉的硬件提供连接。除了这些协同效应外，此次合并对马斯克——这位已经是世界首富和首位万亿富翁的人——也具有吸引力，因为它将赋予他更多的控制权。

Based on SpaceX documents filed as part of its IPO, Musk holds more than 82 percent of voting power in SpaceX. In contrast, Musk holds about 20 percent of voting power at Tesla. By merging SpaceX with Tesla, where he has less direct control, Musk could acquire a majority of shares eligible for voting at the combined company. This would depend on the nature of valuations and negotiated agreements at the time of the merger.

根据SpaceX作为IPO一部分提交的文件，马斯克在SpaceX拥有超过82%的投票权。相比之下，马斯克在特斯拉拥有约20%的投票权。通过将SpaceX与他直接控制力较弱的特斯拉合并，马斯克可以获得合并后公司多数有投票权的股份。这取决于合并时的估值性质和协商达成的协议。

At the time of Musk’s announcement, SpaceX and Tesla had market valuations of about $2 trillion and $1.5 trillion, respectively. Scrutiny ahead The merger will face scrutiny by US regulators. Additionally, Morningstar reported earlier this year that valuation disagreements will likely be significant, especially among Tesla shareholders.

在马斯克宣布这一消息时，SpaceX和特斯拉的市值分别约为2万亿美元和1.5万亿美元。面临审查：此次合并将面临美国监管机构的审查。此外，晨星公司（Morningstar）今年早些时候报道称，估值分歧可能会很大，尤其是在特斯拉股东之间。

Musk said Tuesday that 50 percent of all Tesla shareholders, not just those with voting shares, would have to approve of the merger. Such a vote would only come if the two special committees reached an agreement on merger terms. Some political leaders, already wary of Musk’s outsized power and influence and willingness to use both freely, may also object to a single Musk mega-corporation.

马斯克周二表示，所有特斯拉股东（不仅仅是拥有投票权的股东）中必须有50%的人批准该合并。只有在两个特别委员会就合并条款达成一致后，才会进行此类投票。一些已经对马斯克过大的权力和影响力及其随意使用这些权力的意愿感到担忧的政治领导人，也可能会反对成立单一的马斯克超级企业。

It’s not definitive what the merger’s implications are for SpaceX’s traditional space business and its longtime goal of settling Mars, or for Tesla’s one-time aspirations to bring electric vehicles to the global market. Most probably, however, a combined Musk-universe would focus on artificial intelligence and the computing power needed to back those ambitions. Less Mars and cars—and more silicon.

此次合并对SpaceX的传统太空业务及其长期定居火星的目标，或对特斯拉曾经将电动汽车推向全球市场的愿望意味着什么，目前尚无定论。然而，最有可能的是，合并后的“马斯克宇宙”将专注于人工智能以及支持这些雄心壮志所需的计算能力。减少对火星和汽车的关注，转而更多地关注硅片。