Elon Musk is reportedly exploring a merger of SpaceX, xAI, and Tesla, according to sources familiar with the discussions. If it proceeds, the combined entity would span aerospace, artificial intelligence, automotive, energy, and telecommunications - approaching Musk's $800B personal net worth in scale.
This is the opposite of what public markets have rewarded. GE's breakup. Johnson & Johnson's split. Decades of activist investors demanding focus. The "conglomerate discount" - where diversified companies trade below the sum of their parts - became conventional wisdom. Companies spun off divisions to unlock value.
What's changed: Private capital structures let founder-led empires avoid that discount. Musk coordinates assets through private ownership, partnerships, and informal arrangements rather than a single public entity. When pieces do go public - like Tesla - they trade as specialized bets, not as dragged-down divisions of a sprawling whole.
The model works at scale now. There are 1,249 unicorns globally worth $4.3T cumulative, with the top 55 private companies accounting for $2.8T. Evergreen funds have grown from 5% to a projected 20% of private capital in a decade. Private credit flows hit $74B in 2025. Billionaire wealth concentration and AI-driven cost reductions make it possible to operate across industries without traditional corporate overhead.
For enterprise tech leaders, the implications are structural. Private markets are where capital is increasingly allocated and coordinated. Preqin forecasts secondaries AUM will outstrip PE growth as LPs pressure for exits. MSCI notes continuation vehicles now represent 20% of contributions-to-distributions since 2021. SPVs, independent sponsor deals, and evergreen structures offer agility that public companies can't match.
The skepticism is valid. Continuation funds and evergreens might mask weak exits rather than deliver upside. Regulators could scrutinize retail inflows outpacing due diligence. Traditional LPs worry their influence erodes as retail weighting grows.
But the pattern is clear: Founder-led, privately structured, industry-spanning empires are returning. They're just avoiding the public market penalty that killed GE.
Notably, M&A rebounded to $4.9T globally in 2025, up 40%. The capital is there. The question is whether this generation of personal conglomerates avoids the fate of their corporate predecessors, or simply delays it.