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Musk Denies Tesla-SpaceX Merger, China Split Report

Is Musk hiding a real Tesla-China reckoning or is the WSJ merger story pure media fabrication?

Published 14 hours ago

Musk Denies Tesla-SpaceX Merger, China Split Report

Story

Above: The stock price of Tesla displayed on a smartphone in Hubei Province, China, on July 25. Image credit: CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images

The Spin

Narrative A

The WSJ Tesla-China story is textbook bad journalism — a junior banker probably floated a wild idea, someone leaked it, and the paper ran with it for clicks. Musk flatly stated this never came up in any discussion, making the report not just wrong but absurdly fabricated. Media outlets pushing unverified speculation as news is exactly why trust in mainstream reporting keeps eroding.

JO Bhakdi on X

Elon Musk on X

Narrative B

Musk's "fake news" denial is ambiguous at best — it's unclear whether he's denying a SpaceX-Tesla merger or just the China divestiture angle. SpaceX can't operate in China, so Tesla's China business creates a real structural tension that won't go away. Musk's political views increasingly clash with Beijing, meaning a forced reckoning is likely regardless of what he says now.

PoohSticks on X

Bad Takes on X