Elon Musk is generally recognized as the richest person in the world, and much of that wealth comes from the companies he owns, leads, or holds a controlling stake in. If you are wondering what companies does Elon Musk own in 2026, the answer spans electric vehicles, rockets, artificial intelligence, social media, brain implants, and tunnel construction. This guide breaks down every major company Musk owns, how they are structured, and how they connect to one another.
What Companies Does Elon Musk Own Right Now
As of 2026, the companies Elon Musk owns or controls generally fall into two categories: the large, well-known ventures (Tesla, SpaceX) and the businesses that now sit underneath SpaceX’s corporate umbrella (xAI, X, and Starlink). He also holds stakes in The Boring Company and Neuralink, and he runs a nonprofit, the Musk Foundation.
| Company | What It Does | Status | Musk’s Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla | Electric vehicles, energy storage, robotics | Publicly traded (Nasdaq: TSLA) | CEO, largest individual shareholder |
| SpaceX | Rockets, spacecraft, satellite launches | Publicly traded (Nasdaq: SPCX) | CEO and Chief Engineer |
| Starlink | Satellite internet | SpaceX subsidiary | Controlled through SpaceX |
| xAI | Artificial intelligence (Grok chatbot) | SpaceX subsidiary | Founder, controlled through SpaceX |
| X (formerly Twitter) | Social media platform | xAI subsidiary (under SpaceX) | Owner, controlled through xAI |
| The Boring Company | Tunneling and underground transit | Private | Founder |
| Neuralink | Brain-computer interface implants | Private | Founder |
| Musk Foundation | Philanthropic nonprofit | Nonprofit | Co-founder |
Tesla
Tesla is typically the company most people associate with Musk, though he did not technically found it. Tesla was started in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Musk joined as chairman and lead investor shortly after, became CEO in 2008, and has led the company since. Tesla makes electric vehicles, battery storage products, and is increasingly focused on autonomous driving and robotics through its Optimus robot program.
Tesla is publicly traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker TSLA. Regarding ownership, Musk owns nearly 11% of Tesla, which excludes unvested restricted stock from his 2018 CEO performance award that could give him another roughly 8% upon vesting. Tesla generally remains one of the most valuable automakers in the world by market capitalization, even as competition from other electric vehicle makers has intensified in recent years.
SpaceX
When people ask what companies does Elon Musk own, SpaceX is usually near the top of the list, both for its size and for how central it has become to Musk’s overall business structure. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, investing roughly $100 million of his own money and taking on the roles of chief executive and chief engineer.
SpaceX designs and builds reusable rockets, including the Falcon 9 and the Starship, and provides launch services for NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and private satellite operators. A major turning point came in mid-2026: SpaceX went public on the Nasdaq on June 12, 2026, under the ticker SPCX. The IPO became the largest in Wall Street history, raising roughly $75 billion and valuing the company at approximately $2.1 trillion, with shares opening at $150 and closing just under $161.
This listing also had personal financial consequences for Musk. Musk became the world’s first trillionaire on June 12, when SpaceX went public, with the company opening at a valuation of nearly $2 trillion and Musk owning about 38% of it, including options. SpaceX has become one of the biggest drivers of Musk’s wealth, alongside Tesla. Changes in SpaceX’s valuation have had a significant impact on Elon Musk’s net worth, making the company a central part of his financial empire.
xAI
xAI is generally described as Musk’s artificial intelligence company, and it is now legally part of SpaceX rather than a stand-alone business. xAI was founded in 2023, and its stated goal, according to the company, is to build AI systems capable of helping “understand the true nature of the universe.” Its most recognizable product is Grok, an AI chatbot originally integrated into X.
In February 2026, the corporate structure changed significantly. SpaceX acquired xAI in a deal that valued the combined company at $1.25 trillion. Some reporting describes this as the largest merger in history. Following this deal, xAI is generally considered a subsidiary of SpaceX rather than a separate Musk-owned entity, though Musk continues to direct its strategy and public messaging.
X (Formerly Twitter)
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is one of the more complicated entries in any list of what companies does Elon Musk own, because its ownership structure has changed twice in a short period.
Musk’s acquisition of Twitter spanned from April to October 2022, and he officially became owner and CEO of the company on October 27, 2022, after which Twitter was taken private. In July 2023, Musk rebranded Twitter as X.
The platform’s corporate home has since shifted. Twitter, which Musk bought in 2022, was merged into xAI nearly a year before SpaceX’s February 2026 acquisition of xAI. This means X is generally understood, as of 2026, to sit underneath xAI, which itself sits underneath SpaceX. Musk has generally described his long-term vision for X as an “everything app” that combines social media, messaging, and payments in a single platform.
Starlink
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet division rather than a separate company Musk owns outright. It operates a large constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites that provide internet access to homes, businesses, ships, and remote regions with limited traditional infrastructure. Starlink has become a significant source of revenue for SpaceX, generating billions of dollars in operating income. Because Starlink is organized as a division within SpaceX rather than an independently owned company, it is typically listed alongside SpaceX rather than as its own entry when people search for what companies does Elon Musk own.
The Boring Company
The Boring Company is a construction and tunneling business Musk founded to address urban traffic congestion. Musk founded The Boring Company in 2016, and its projects are primarily designed for intra-city transit systems intended to solve traffic challenges and enable point-to-point transportation. The company remains privately held, and Musk continues to hold a stake in it separate from his other ventures.
Neuralink
Neuralink is Musk’s brain-computer interface company, and it remains one of the more experimental businesses in his portfolio. Founded in 2016, Neuralink employs neuroscientists to develop implantable brain-machine interfaces. The company’s technology is designed to record neural activity through implanted electrode threads, with the long-term goal of helping patients with paralysis or other neurological conditions regain certain functions. Neuralink remains privately held, and no public listing has been announced for it.
The Musk Foundation
The Musk Foundation is a registered nonprofit that Elon and his brother Kimbal founded in 2001. Unlike the other entries on this list, it is not a for-profit company Musk owns, but rather a philanthropic vehicle. It has received billions of dollars in contributions, largely in the form of Tesla stock. The foundation generally operates with minimal public disclosure about its grantmaking, though it has made some documented donations, including a 2018 gift of $423,600 to students in Flint, Michigan, to purchase Chromebooks.
Companies Musk No Longer Owns
Not every business Musk has been involved with is still part of his current portfolio. Understanding these helps clarify what companies does Elon Musk own today versus what he owned or co-founded in the past.
| Former Company | What Happened |
|---|---|
| Zip2 | Sold to Compaq in 1999 for roughly $300 million |
| X.com / PayPal | Merged into PayPal, later acquired by eBay in 2002 |
| SolarCity | Acquired by Tesla in 2016, no longer a separate company |
| OpenAI | Musk co-founded it but later left its board |
How Musk’s Companies Are Financially Connected
One area that is generally underexplored in most guides to Musk’s businesses is how financially intertwined they have become, beyond simple ownership charts. This matters for anyone trying to understand what companies does Elon Musk own, since ownership on paper does not always reflect operational overlap.
For example, Tesla recognized $430 million in revenue from xAI in 2025 related to Megapack purchases, and Tesla also entered into an agreement in January 2026 to invest about $2 billion in xAI preferred stock. This means Tesla is not just a separate Musk company, it is also a customer and investor in xAI. Similarly, The Boring Company uses Tesla vehicles in its tunnels, and xAI’s Grok is integrated into X, with both drawing on shared data.
This cross-ownership and cross-investment pattern is a relatively recent development in Musk’s business empire, and it generally did not exist in this form before 2025 and 2026.
Which Musk Companies Are Public vs. Private
A common point of confusion is which of Musk’s companies ordinary investors can actually buy shares in. As of 2026, the picture is:
- Publicly traded: Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) and SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX)
- Privately held: The Boring Company and Neuralink
- Subsidiaries, not separately traded: xAI, X, and Starlink, all of which are owned through SpaceX
Tesla was the only Musk company publicly traded before SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut on June 12, 2026. Direct retail access to SpaceX shares had generally been limited to accredited investors and institutional buyers before the IPO. Neither The Boring Company nor Neuralink has officially announced plans for a public listing, and any future listing would likely be years away.
Why Musk’s Business Structure Keeps Changing
Musk’s companies have consolidated more than they have expanded in recent years. Rather than launching entirely new, unrelated ventures, the general trend since 2025 has been folding smaller companies into larger ones, such as X into xAI, and then xAI into SpaceX. This is a notable shift from the earlier pattern of Musk starting or acquiring standalone companies (Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, Twitter) that each operated independently.
One practical reason for this consolidation, according to Musk’s own public statements, involves infrastructure. The SpaceX-xAI merger was framed around addressing the power and cooling requirements of terrestrial data centers, with plans to use near-constant solar energy to scale computational capacity and eventually launch a constellation of satellites functioning as orbital data centers. This suggests future consolidation may continue if Musk determines that shared infrastructure between his companies produces efficiencies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What other companies does Elon Musk own besides Tesla and SpaceX?
Beyond Tesla and SpaceX, Musk holds stakes in The Boring Company and Neuralink, both privately held. He also controls xAI, X, and Starlink, though these are technically subsidiaries of SpaceX rather than separately owned companies. He additionally co-founded the nonprofit Musk Foundation.
Is Twitter still a separate company from X?
No. Twitter was rebranded as X in July 2023 and has since been folded into xAI, which is itself now a subsidiary of SpaceX. There is no separately operating “Twitter” entity anymore.
Can regular investors buy stock in SpaceX?
Yes, as of SpaceX’s Nasdaq listing on June 12, 2026, under the ticker SPCX. Before that date, SpaceX shares were generally restricted to accredited investors and institutional buyers through private markets.
Does Musk still own Neuralink and The Boring Company outright?
Musk holds ownership stakes in both, and they remain privately held with no public listing announced. Unlike xAI or X, they have not been folded into SpaceX or Tesla.
Why did SpaceX acquire xAI instead of the other way around?
Public reporting frames the deal as SpaceX acquiring xAI in February 2026 in an all-stock transaction, making xAI a subsidiary within the SpaceX corporate structure rather than an independent company.
How many companies does Elon Musk actually own or control in total?
Counting Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, X, Starlink, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and the Musk Foundation, Musk is generally described as being involved with around seven to eight active organizations, depending on whether subsidiaries are counted separately from their parent companies.
Final Thoughts
The honest answer to what companies does Elon Musk own has become more complicated over the past year, mainly because several of his businesses have merged into one another rather than staying separate. Tesla and SpaceX remain his two flagship, publicly traded companies, while xAI, X, and Starlink now generally operate as parts of the SpaceX structure rather than standalone businesses. The Boring Company, Neuralink, and the Musk Foundation round out the rest of his active portfolio. Given how quickly this structure has shifted in just the past year, it is reasonable to expect further changes as these businesses continue to grow and intersect.
