马斯克对字母X情有独钟。特斯拉公司最早的车型之一就是Model X。太空探索技术公司的简称是SpaceX。2022年马斯克收购推特后，将这家社交媒体平台更名为X。他甚至给儿子取名为X Æ A-Xii，在网上常称其为“小X”。
Musk has an affinity for the letter X. One of Tesla Inc.’s first vehicles was the Model X. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. goes by SpaceX. Twitter was rechristened as X after Musk acquired the social media platform in 2022. He even named his son X Æ A-Xii and often refers to him as “lil X” online.
如今，这位世界首富正在探索旗下两家上市公司合并的可能性，市场留下了一个唾手可得的机会：目前没有任何股票使用X作为股票代码，这个代码在美国钢铁公司去年被收购后便闲置下来。尽管尚不清楚马斯克是否会尝试拿下这个代码，也不清楚特斯拉与SpaceX的合并能否成行，但投资者和分析师已纷纷盯上了这个吉利的时机。
Now, as the world’s richest man explores a combination between his two public companies, the market has left an opportunity for the taking: no stock currently trades under the ticker X, which was orphaned after United States Steel Corp. was acquired last year. Though it’s unknown if Musk will attempt to nab that symbol, or if a Tesla-SpaceX tie-up will even go through, investors and analysts have zeroed in on the auspicious timing.
Roundhill Investments首席执行官戴夫·马扎表示：“这桩合并还有很长的路要走，但如果完成，看到X重新出现在行情板上，谁都不应感到意外。这完全符合品牌调性。”马斯克同时担任特斯拉和SpaceX的首席执行官。在投资者和分析师猜测数月之后，他上周宣布，特别委员会正在讨论合并事宜。目前，潜在的交易条款、结构和时间安排，不过是华尔街的猜测游戏。
“The merger has a ways to go, but if it closes, nobody should be surprised to see X back on the tape,” said Dave Mazza, chief executive officer of Roundhill Investments. “It’s entirely on brand.”Musk serves as chief executive officer of both Tesla and SpaceX. He announced last week that special committees are discussing a merger after months of investor and analyst speculation. For now, the potential terms, structure, and timing of a deal are little more than a Wall Street guessing game.
马斯克并未公开表达过对X这一代码的渴望。但众所周知，他比大多数人更看重某些数字和符号。他的网络足迹中充斥着420和69这两个数字、便便表情符号，当然还有字母X。他与字母X的渊源可以追溯到互联网泡沫时期。马斯克曾创办数字金融公司X.com，该公司后来成为如今PayPal Holdings Inc.的一部分。
Musk hasn’t publicly expressed a desire for the ticker. But he has been known to value certain figures and symbols more than most. His digital footprint is rife with the numbers 420 and 69, uses of the poop emoji, and of course, the letter X. His history with the letter stretches back to the dot-com days. Musk had founded a digital finance company, X.com, which later became a part of what is now PayPal Holdings Inc.
单字母股票代码十分罕见。在英语字母表的26个字母中，只有五个——I、K、N、X和Y——有对应的美国股票代码可供使用。
Single-character tickers are rare. Of the 26 letters in the English alphabet, only five — I, K, N, X and Y — offer available corresponding US stock tickers.
股票代码易主并非没有先例。事实上，SpaceX目前使用的SPCX代码，直到今年4月还属于Tuttle Capital Management旗下一只在纳斯达克上市的SPAC基金。
It’s not unfounded for tickers to change hands. In fact, the SPCX ticker currently employed by SpaceX belonged to a Tuttle Capital Management Nasdaq-listed SPAC fund until April.
投资者认为，这为他重组特斯拉与SpaceX的合资企业集团提供了动力，无论是在股票代码还是名称上。两家公司都拥有强大的品牌认知度，但马斯克的目标范围——从聊天机器人到自动驾驶汽车再到轨道数据中心——超越了现有的命名体系。
Investors see an impetus for him to revamp a joint Tesla-SpaceX conglomerate, in ticker and in name. Both companies command strong brand recognition, but the scope of Musk’s goals — which span from chat bots to self-driving cars to orbital data centers — transcends the current nomenclature.
“特斯拉仍然让人想到汽车，而SpaceX让人想到火箭，”Karobaar Capital首席投资官哈里斯·库尔希德表示。“两者都无法真正涵盖他试图整合在一起的雄心。”
“Tesla still makes people think cars, and SpaceX makes people think rockets,” said Karobaar Capital’s chief investment officer, Haris Khurshid. “Neither really captures the ambitions he’s trying to tie together.”
如果合并得以完成，且马斯克确实选择为合并后的公司改名，那么外界已经开始猜测他会选什么名字：“X很可能会标记那个位置，”富兰克林邓普顿投资解决方案高级副总裁马克斯·戈克曼表示。“那将是最具马斯克风格的做法。”
If the merger goes through and Musk does choose to rename the resulting company, there’s a guess emerging on what he’ll choose: “X will probably mark that spot,” said Max Gokhman, senior vice president at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions. “That would be the most Musk thing ever.”