Elon Musk backs a $3.5 trillion Tesla-SpaceX merger as 'special committees' at both firms begin weighing a deal

Elon Musk admits he is 'tap dancing through a minefield' and is barred from the talks as a 'conflicted party'. He called the setup 'an odd kabuki dance' run by independent directors. Tesla would need backing from 50 per cent of all outstanding shares, which Musk called 'quite a high hurdle'. He warned that treating a merger as certain 'would be overstating it'.

The disclosure came as SpaceX posted a $4.4 billion quarterly profit, beating forecasts.

SpaceX shares jumped around 8 per cent in after-hours trading on the news.

Barclays suggested a deal could be announced before Tesla's December 3 shareholder meeting.