It's a game for him, but so ridiculous. While Tesla was pushing electrification and SpaceX pushing rapid rocket re-use I kind of tolerated Elon's antics, but since he got involved in politics and DOGE I can't bear it anymore.
It counts and it's not wrong.
Sure, the Tesla award takes into account any M&A but growing a 2T company to 3T is a 50% increase. While growing a 1T company to 2T is a 100% increase so it's expected to be easier for him to hit his award targets with the companies merged as opposed to not merged.
I agree, and most people do too, yet he'll get away with it. We're in the kleptocracy phase of the fall.
I LOVE puppies, but if I had a trillion of them the last thing I'd want is another puppy.
The things they're trying to accomplish require extreme amounts of capital.
Some people aren't motivated by money, they are motivated by reputation, or pathology.
So just increasing market cap won’t do it alone.
Even if he merged them, they still have to produce WAY more than they are now.