Tesla CEO Elon Musk. [AP]
Tesla CEO Elon Musk. [AP]

Tesla is considering selling its China business unit with a potential merger with SpaceX in mind, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (local time).

Sources cited by the Wall Street Journal said some Tesla executives were instructed to prepare for a separation of the China business in anticipation of a possible merger. Tesla's advisers also discussed various options for the separation, including a spinoff, a sale and a full market exit.

Tesla operates two large factories in Shanghai. One source said executives also discussed establishing a separate sales entity to handle exports produced at the Shanghai facilities.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk, CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, had deliberately structured Tesla's China operations so they could be easily separated from its US business, taking into account geopolitical tensions between the United States and China.

Musk rebuffed the report on X, formerly Twitter, saying it had "never even been discussed" and calling it "absurd fake news."


sunpine@heraldcorp.com