Musk says SpaceX and Tesla are exploring a merger that would put about 30,000 bitcoin on one balance sheet, and SpaceX shares jump about 9%

Elon Musk has put a SpaceX and Tesla merger on the table, and bitcoin is part of the balance sheet it would create. Speaking on SpaceX's third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, October 20, Musk said both companies have formed special committees to assess a tie-up, CoinDesk and Al Jazeera reported; CoinDesk described them as committees of independent directors. "The special committees have not reached agreement on the terms of any transaction," he said, per CoinDesk.

Musk said the idea has merit because the two companies' AI work is complementary, but that it is not a certainty and would need a shareholder vote, including approval from 50% of Tesla shareholders, per Al Jazeera. He said his stakes in both companies keep him out of the committee talks, per CoinDesk.

The crypto angle is the combined treasury. SpaceX disclosed 18,712 BTC, held as of December 31, in the S-1 filing ahead of its public listing, The Block reported in May; the company went public in June, per Al Jazeera. Tesla holds 11,509 BTC, per CoinDesk. Together that is about 30,221 bitcoin, a figure CoinDesk linked to bitcointreasuries.net. With bitcoin at roughly $84,000 on Wednesday, per CoinDesk's price page, the combined holding is worth about $2.5 billion.

Shares rose on the results as well as the talk. SpaceX reported revenue of $14.58 billion against a $12.7 billion consensus and earnings of 35 cents a share, per CoinDesk, and its first quarterly profit, a net $4.4 billion, per Al Jazeera. Shares rose more than 8% after hours and about 9% premarket to about $161.

Al Jazeera put the companies' combined market value at about $3.5 trillion, which it said would make the deal the largest corporate tie-up in history. Tesla reports earnings after Wednesday's close; analysts expect $28.13 billion of revenue, per CoinDesk.