Does Musk want Tesla and SpaceX merged, and what stands in the way?

On SpaceX's earnings call, Elon Musk, CEO of both companies, called himself a conflicted party who cannot join the talks. Still, he gave his view. "I think it would be a good idea. But it's really up the special committees of both companies."

Each company has formed a special committee of independent directors, at shareholders' request, and the deal would still need at least 50% of Tesla shareholders to back it. Musk called that a high bar.

Musk also listed what he sees at stake: cooperation on software, chip design, robotics and connectivity. But he cautioned: The special committees have not reached agreement on terms of any transaction and there's no guarantee that they will.