In his willingness to borrow heavily to turn his dreams into reality, Elon Musk has shown himself to be a gambler like no other Silicon Valley entrepreneur. But his proposed combination of Tesla Motors and SolarCity appears to be a double or nothing bet.
Partly, that’s because it combines two companies that are burning through cash—a combined $1.1 billion in the first quarter—while carrying heavy debt. Between them, Tesla and SolarCity owe more than $6 billion. That makes for a financially tenuous combination.
