Tesla (TSLA) has revealed the latest web of transactions between itself, Elon Musk, his multiple companies, and board members.

As a public company, Tesla has to report to its shareholders transactions between the company and its executives, board members, and other companies linked to them.

With a new SEC filing, the company has disclosed those latest transactions for 2024 and up to February 2025.

Here’s a list with my comments:

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SpaceX is party to certain commercial, licensing and support agreements with Tesla. Under these agreements, SpaceX incurred expenses of approximately $2.4 million in 2024 and approximately $0.1 million through February 2025.

Tesla didn’t specifically disclosed what are those “certain commercial, licensing and support agreements”.

However, we do know that Tesla and SpaceX share a material science team and they have shared ERP systems in the past.

Tesla also pays SpaceX for the use of Elon Musk’s jet:

Since April 2016, SpaceX has invoiced Tesla for our use of an aircraft owned and operated by SpaceX at rates determined by Tesla and SpaceX, subject to rules of the Federal Aviation Administration governing such arrangements. Tesla incurred expenses of approximately $0.8 million in 2024 and approximately $0.04 million through February 2025.

These transactions have been reported every year between Tesla and SpaceX.

X is a newer addition to Musk enterprises and the CEO has pushed Tesla to spend on advertising on his privately owned platform.

It only amounted to about $400,000 in Tesla spending on X last year aboud only $10,000 this year:

X is party to certain commercial, consulting and support agreements with Tesla. Under these agreements, Tesla incurred expenses of approximately $0.1 million in 2024. As part of a multi-platform advertising campaign, Tesla also directly or indirectly purchased advertising on X, which totaled approximately $0.4 million in 2024 and approximately $0.01 million through February 2025.

Tesla only started to advertise in 2023, shortly after Musk bought Twitter, a platform that relies on advertising, but it has yet to really ramp up its advertising effort.

Instead, it relies on marketing.

xAI is the latest private Musk company that Tesla’s CEO is pushing to work with Tesla.

Based on Tesla’s new disclosure, xAI paid Tesla almost $200 million in 2024 and almost $37 million in the first two months of 2025:

xAI is party to certain commercial (including those for the purchase of Megapacks), consulting and support agreements with Tesla. Under these agreements, xAI incurred expenses of approximately $198.3 million in 2024 and approximately $36.9 million through February 2025. Approximately $191.0 million during 2024 and $36.8 million through February 2025 was incurred by xAI for its purchase of our Megapack products.

The vast majority of that was xAI buying Tesla Megapacks to power its data centers.

However, there are also a few millions not accounted for.

Musk has admitted to redirecting NVIDIA computers that were supposed to be used for Tesla’s super cluster in Texas to xAI.

Tesla also disclosed paying The Boring Company (TBC), a company privately owned by Musk, over $3 million in 2024 and $800,000 in the first two months of 2025:

TBC is party to commercial agreements with Tesla. Under these agreements, Tesla incurred expenses of approximately $3.6 million in 2024 and approximately $0.8 million through February 2025.

This is likely related to TBC building a tunnel to link the Cybertruck’s end-of-line at Gigafactory Texas to a loading lot.

Tesla also pays a security company owned by Musk to provide security services to the CEO:

We are party to a service agreement with a security company, owned by Elon Musk and organized to provide security services concerning him, including in connection with his duties to and work for Tesla. Tesla incurred expenses of approximately $2.8 million for such security services in 2024 and approximately $0.5 million through February 2025, representing a portion of the total cost of security services concerning Elon Musk.

These costs have greatly increased. In 2023, Tesla paid $2.4 million. It increased to $2.8 million in 2024 and based on Tesla having spent $500,000 in the first two months of the year, it looks like it could increase to $3 million in 2025.

Tesla also disclosed that it sold about $30 million worth of scrap materials for JB Straubel’s Redwood Mateirals to recycle:

JB Straubel is the Chief Executive Officer of Redwood. Tesla is party to an agreement with Redwood to supply certain scrap materials. Under this agreement, Redwood incurred expenses of approximately $30.3 million in 2024 and approximately $0.6 million through February 2025.

Straubel is a Tesla co-founder and long-time CTO. He left in 2019 to build a battery recycling and battery material firm, but he also more recently rejoined Tesla’s board – hence why transactions between his company and Tesla need to be reported.

Finally, Tesla disclosed that it paid $300,000 to Kimbal Musk’s company, Nova Sky Stories, for a drone show:

Kimbal Musk is the Chief Executive Officer of Nova Sky Stories. In 2024, we entered into a commercial agreement with Nova Sky Stories in relation to the production of an aerial show. Under this agreement, Tesla incurred expenses of approximately $0.3 million in 2024.

Kimbal Musk is on Tesla’s board and he is Elon Musk’s brother.

Electrek’s Take

I can admit that there can be interesting synergy between companies. When Musk was just leading Tesla and SpaceX, I had some reservations, but I thought it was feasible and some collaboration, like the material science team, made sense.

However, now that Musk is leading Tesla, SpaceX, X, xAI, The Boring Company, Neuralink, and DOGE, it makes no sense whatsoever. It’s too much.

And the synergy between them is often looking like a stretch. For example, the $3 million tunnel is ridiculous. Tesla should have simply better designed its EOL. The Boring Company had a ton of projects that never amounted to anything and it looks like Musk is keeping them busy with Tesla money.

Tesla sending its NVIDIA computers to xAI is also ridiculous. Musk’s excuse was that Tesla’s data center was not ready to receive them, but then he boasted about xAI being to deploy its own data center in a record time of just 3 weeks.

Why was xAI able to do it in 3 weeks but Tesla couldn’t?

Finally, Tesla giving Elon’s brother $300,000 for a drone show is also highly questionable.

Like Leo KoGuan said, “Tesla is a family business masquerading as a public company.”

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ACT Expo is North America’s premier clean truck and transport trade show – and for 2025 it was bigger than ever, with more exhibitors and more, more capable battery electric vehicles than ever. The downsides? NACFE have scored with their “messy middle” messaging, and the return of “clean diesel” talking points.

The re-election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States has thrown the steady pace of electric fleet adoption – along with just about every thing else – into a state of confusion and disarray. Into that chaos, NACFE (the North American Council for Freight Efficiency) has thrown a positively progress-shattering bromide that may as well have been designed to distract attention from the proliferation of practical medium- and heavy-duty EVs, the rapid expansion of a comprehensive DC fast charging network, and the rapidly decreasing delta between the up-front costs of conventional diesel and battery electric offerings.

I’m talking about the phrase, “the messy middle,” which posits that, while we can all agree that electric vehicles and battery technology are the future, “we’re not quite there, yet.” The result is a series of observations that, while very timely in 2019, seem to disingenuously portray EVs as new technology today, while claiming that there are unanswered questions regarding battery costs and component longevity.

Never mind that next year will mark the (checks notes) twenty-ninth year of Toyota Prius production, and the thirtieth anniversary of the production launch of GM’s EV1, or that Volvo is on its third generation of battery electric semi, or that dozens of EV fleets have logged hundreds of millions of all-electric miles on their vehicles – never mind, in other words, that BEVs are in production now, ready now, in customer hands now, delivering on the promise of reduced TCO now … an EV may not be suitable for some fleets – and NACFE’s “messy middle” messaging is going to give a lot of fleets an excuse to buy one more round diesel-engined semi trucks to fill up with more diesel from Shell their favorite truck stops.

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All that said, it’s catchy. Outside of NACFE’s booth or Shell’s panels I’ve heard the phrase “messy middle” repeated sincerely at least a dozen times over the last three days, and I have to admit that the alliterative lure of that particular little ear worm that, regardless of the sincerity of NACFE’s intent, is going to set the pace of EV adoption back at least the length of one Presidential term (give or take 100 days).

Moving on …

There was plenty of good stuff

Despite my ranting and raving against the whole “messy middle” messaging, there was an incredible amount of awesome, zero-emission, battery-powered goodness at this year’s ACT Expo. Too much, in fact, to jam into a single article (unless y’all like 5,000 word articles).

As such, I won’t even try.

Instead, I’ll use this post to give you a sneak peek at some of the stories I’ll be posting in the coming days, bringing you fully up to speed with all the latest and greatest new EVs, EREVs, and HFCEVs that commercial fleet buyers can place an order for today, and start putting the messy middle (and their backwards-looking competitors) behind them. So, check out the short list, below, then watch this space to see the links go live.

ACT 2025 News

• Zenobe arrives in North America
• Honda wants to sell you a fuel cell
• Hyundai opens up about its hydrogen semi
• ABB has figured out this whole charging deal
• Windrose gets real, and Wen Han signs my truck
• Volvo has the best deal going for commercial EVs
• New Mack electric trucks are coming, and one is already here
• The new autonomous terminal tractor from Kalmar is a next-level EV

Original content from Electrek; special thanks to ACT Expo.

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