--- title: "Elon Musk's Raid: Why Tesla Lieutenants Are Shuffling To xAI" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/287108024.md" description: "Elon Musk is reallocating key personnel from SpaceX and Tesla to support xAI, which is facing significant financial challenges, including a $6.4 billion operating loss. This move comes ahead of SpaceX's anticipated IPO, potentially the largest ever. The IPO is set for June 12, with a significant portion of shares allocated to retail investors, aiming to ensure strong initial demand despite concerns over xAI's financial viability." datetime: "2026-05-20T18:31:20.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/287108024.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287108024.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/287108024.md) --- # Elon Musk's Raid: Why Tesla Lieutenants Are Shuffling To xAI **Elon Musk** is raiding his own companies to rescue **xAI**, pulling trusted lieutenants from SpaceX, **Tesla** (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Starlink into the struggling AI firm just weeks before what may become the largest public offering ever, according to a Bloomberg report. A copy of xAI’s org chart reviewed by Bloomberg shows more than a dozen Musk allies now running engineering, product and finance. SpaceX President **Gwynne Shotwell** helps oversee operations, longtime Starlink executive **Michael Nicolls** took over as xAI president in April, and SpaceX finance chief **Bret Johnsen** now runs xAI’s books. The shuffle matters because Musk folded xAI into SpaceX in February. xAI posted a roughly $6.4 billion operating loss last year and burned an estimated $14 billion in cash, even as Starlink doubled operating income to $4.42 billion, which Bloomberg said makes the AI unit a potential liability for the listing. ## The Index Rule That Forces Buying The reason the xAI drag may not dent the debut comes down to plumbing. Polymarket’s timing market prices a June listing at 94%, with a Nasdaq debut reportedly targeted for June 12 under the ticker SPCX. Once it lists, a wave of forced buying kicks in. New rules letting huge IPOs join the Nasdaq 100 just 15 trading days after listing took effect May 1. SpaceX would qualify almost instantly, forcing every fund that tracks the index to buy the stock whether they like the price or not. ## The Retail Floodgates Open The demand floor builds before pricing day too. Shareholders just approved a 5-for-1 forward split that cut the fair value per share to about $105.32 from $526.59, lowering the nominal price for retail buyers. Reports indicate SpaceX is weighing an allocation of up to 30% of IPO shares to retail investors, roughly three times the usual 5% to 10%. The forced buying guarantees a strong open. It says nothing about what happens once the passive funds finish loading up and the stock has to trade on fundamentals. Analysts have warned that mega-IPOs often struggle after the debut, and a company valued near $2 trillion with a cash-burning AI unit attached has little room to disappoint. _Image: Shutterstock_ ### Related Stocks - [TSLA.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLA.US.md) - [TSL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSL.US.md) - [TSLR.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLR.US.md) - [TSLL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLL.US.md) - [TSLG.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/TSLG.US.md) - [.NDX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/.NDX.US.md) - [SSTK.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/SSTK.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Elon Musk Says SpaceX's Anthropic Deal Shows It Can Offer AI Compute As A Service At Scale: 'We Are In Discussions With Other Companies…'](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287150584.md) - [Everyone’s Turning Bearish on Tesla Ahead of SpaceX IPO. Be a Contrarian and Buy TSLA Stock Instead.](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287102932.md) - [SpaceX IPO could shatter records with potential $80B raise](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287079338.md) - [Elon Musk's Tesla Army Faces Space X IPO: Will Capital Rotate From TSLA Into SPCX?](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286814330.md) - [SpaceX details how retail investors can buy into its IPO](https://longbridge.com/en/news/287161988.md)