Tesla's Amended 10-K Reveals $573 Million in Revenue From Elon Musk's Own Companies
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Tesla filed an amended annual report with the SEC on April 30, 2026, and buried inside the 10-K/A were the most detailed related-party transaction disclosures the company has ever published. In fiscal year 2025, Tesla collected $573.4 million in revenue from two companies controlled by its own CEO — xAI and SpaceX. That number is verifiable, line-by-line, because it comes from a formal SEC filing, not a press release or investor presentation.
Tesla's total FY2025 revenue was $97.7 billion, so the $573M represents roughly 0.6% of the top line. In absolute terms, it's material. In context, the more interesting question is what the money was for — and what governance questions it raises for shareholders.
Where the $573 Million Came From
The revenue breaks down across two relationships:
| Company | Transaction Type | Amount (FY2025) |
|---|---|---|
| xAI | Megapack energy storage systems | $430.1M |
| xAI | Additional Megapack (Jan–Feb 2026) | $78.1M |
| SpaceX | Vehicle sales (primarily Cybertruck) | $143.3M |
The xAI revenue is almost entirely tied to Tesla's energy storage business. xAI needed Megapacks to power its data centers — the same facilities running the Grok AI models. Tesla sold them, at commercial rates, through 2025. The $78.1M in early 2026 represents deliveries that completed before the xAI-SpaceX merger closed.
The SpaceX number tells a separate story. In Q4 2025 alone, SpaceX purchased 1,279 Cybertrucks, accounting for 18% of all US Cybertruck registrations that quarter. SpaceX was the single largest US fleet buyer of the Cybertruck for that period — a fact that never appeared in any Tesla press release.
"Tesla's CEO controls the entities on both sides of hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions." — Bloomberg, April 30, 2026
The $2 Billion Investment That Changed Shape
Beyond revenue, the 10-K/A details a separate transaction: on January 16, 2026, Tesla's board approved a $2 billion equity investment in xAI Holdings' Series E funding round. The investment completed on March 12, 2026.
What happened next matters. Weeks after Tesla committed the $2 billion, SpaceX acquired xAI Holdings in a merger. Tesla's xAI preferred stock automatically converted into SpaceX Class A common stock, at less than 1% ownership of SpaceX.
Tesla shareholders approved a $2 billion investment in an AI startup. They ended up as minority shareholders in a rocket company — a company Musk also controls. Tesla's board approved the conversion without a second shareholder vote.
What Tesla Paid Out
The disclosures aren't one-directional. Tesla also made payments to Musk-controlled entities:
| Counterparty | Purpose | Amount (FY2025) |
|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | Commercial agreements, licensing, support | $11.4M |
| xAI | Consulting and technical support | $4.0M |
| X (Twitter) | Advertising | $3.3M |
| The Boring Company | Commercial agreements | $0.9M |
| Musk security firm | Personal security services | $4.8M |
| SpaceX (aircraft use) | Musk travel on SpaceX aircraft | $0.4M |
The outflows are smaller — $24.8M total — but they underscore the breadth of financial ties between Tesla and companies Musk either controls or has significant interests in. Tesla is advertising on a social media platform its CEO owns, paying for his security, and using his private aircraft.
Why Now? The 10-K/A Timing
The amendment was filed April 30 — two weeks after Tesla's Q1 2026 earnings call and well after most shareholder attention had moved on. The original 10-K, filed earlier this year, contained significantly less detail on these transactions. The amended version fills in specifics that investor groups and governance watchdogs had been requesting for months.
Tesla's independent directors on the audit committee approved each transaction, as required under Delaware corporate law. Whether that approval process is sufficiently arm's-length — when the board has historically included Musk loyalists — is a governance question the amendment documents but doesn't resolve.
The Bottom Line for Tesla Shareholders
The $573 million is real revenue. Selling Megapacks to xAI's data centers is good business — the energy division has been Tesla's fastest-growing segment, and a large anchor customer buying in bulk is operationally valuable. SpaceX buying 1,279 Cybertrucks is a fleet sale Tesla would accept from any corporate buyer.
The governance concern isn't whether the individual transactions were fair. It's cumulative: the same person who chairs Tesla's strategy is also the chairman, CEO, or controlling owner of every counterparty in these disclosures. Shareholders who want transparency got it — in an amended filing, months after the transactions occurred. Whether they got enough advance notice or board independence to protect their interests is a separate question the 10-K/A raises without answering.
Photo: Tesla stock market data / Pexels