Elon Musk is a day away from learning if Tesla shareholders' approve of his $56 billion pay package, with the result still very much in doubt.

Why it matters: Musk and Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm have suggested a loss could lead Musk to focus his attentions elsewhere. Namely to his plethora of other, privately held companies.

Between the lines: There are plenty of reasons to believe Musk is bluffing. And, even if he prevails this week, the shareholder vote may prove subordinate to Delaware courts.

Look ahead: But let's imagine Musk doesn't get his way and kicks his Tesla ball over the fence.

• Musk may need, or at least want, actual money and a liquid stock alternative to Tesla. The easiest way to achieve both would be to take SpaceX public, either in whole or via a Starlink spinoff. That's a win for SpaceX shareholders.
• He's likely to pour all his energies and resources into xAI, rather than splitting his AI ambitions between the upstart and Tesla. Particularly if he frees himself from earnings calls, quarterly manufacturing targets, etc.
• This new passion project could give Linda Yaccarino a bit more autonomy at X/Twitter, which might be an indirect win for shareholders of both xAI and X.

The bottom line: Most VCs who back Musk's new ventures do so because of his demonstrated success with Tesla, but they may quietly prefer he loses this vote.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) said it will invest $850 million into Cruise, the robotaxi and self-driving business it bought in 2016 for nearly $1 billion.

Why it's the BFD: GM has decided it's pot committed, despite having lost over $8 billion on a business that forced to stop on-street operations after a robotaxi in its fleet hit a pedestrian last fall in San Francisco.

• The automaker's goal is to prove safety, including via the cautious reintroduction of its robotaxis in three markets, so that longer-term capital might hop a ride.

The bottom line: "There's a lot of uncertainty about how big the robotaxi business will be, but GM is too far into Cruise to abandon the technology" — Joann Muller, Axios

• AlphaSense, a New York market intelligence and search platform, raised $650m at a $4b valuation co-led by Viking Global Investors and BDT & MSD Partners. It also agreed to buy Chicago-based rival Tegus for $930m in cash and stock. axios.link/4bURtat

⚡ FLO, a Canadian EV charging network operator, raised C$136m in Series E funding. Export Development Canada led, and was joined by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Investissement Québec, Business Development Bank of Canada, Energy Impact Partners, and MacKinnon, Bennett & Company. axios.link/4b3kjEe

🚑 Alzheon, a Framingham, Mass., drugmaker focused on Alzheimer's disease, raised $100m in Series E funding led by Alerce Medical Technology Partners. alzheon.com

🚀 Apex, a Culver City, Calif.,, satellite bus maker, raised $95m. XYZ VC and CRV co-led, and were joined by Upfront Ventures, 8VC, Toyota Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, Outsiders Fund, GSBackers, a16z, Shield Capital, J2 Ventures, Ravelin, Baiju Bhatt, and Avalon Capital Group. axios.link/4bWrdfJ

• Cyberhaven, a San Jose, Calif., data security startup, raised $88m in Series C funding. Adams Street Partners and Khosla Ventures co-led, and were joined by Redpoint Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Crane Venture Partners, and Wing VC. https://axios.link/3XlLA1w

• Mad Mobile, a Tampa, Fla., provider of restaurant and retail payment SaaS, raised $50m from Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Bridge Bank. madmobile.com

🚑 Regard, an LA developer of tools to help medical providers synthesize patient data, raised $30m in Series B led by Oak HC/FT at a $350m valuation, per Business Insider. axios.link/3VBL0eE

• Tenderd, a Danish provider of heavy equipment management software, raised $30m in Series A funding. A.P. Moller Holding led, and was joined by Quadri Ventures, Saurya Prakash, Wa'ed Ventures, Nakhla Ventures, Soma Capital, and Liquid 2 Ventures. axios.link/3VDbrkc

• Black Semiconductor, a German developer of graphene-based chip connectivity tech, raised €25.7m in Series A funding. Porsche Ventures and Project A Ventures co-led, and were joined by Scania Growth, Capnamic, Tech Vision Fonds and NRW.BANK. Vsquared Ventures, Cambium Capital, and Onsight Ventures. The company also secured another €203m from Germany's government and North-Rhine-Westphalia. axios.link/45l7fsA

• Nexus Labs, a zero-knowledge cryptography firm, raised $25m in Series A funding. Lightspeed and Pantera Capital co-led, and were joined by Dragonfly, Faction, and Blockchain Builders Fund. axios.link/3Rp6o4l

⚡ Gorilla, a Belgian data analytics firm for energy providers, raised €23m in Series B funding led by Headline. axios.link/4c2GPi4

• Parity, a Toronto provider of remotely managing for building heating and cooling, raised US$19m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Idealist Capital led, and was joined by ArcTern Ventures, Wyse Meter Solutions, and RET Ventures. axios.link/3KDss7t

⚡ ElectronX, a Chicago energy exchange focused on grid transition, raised $15m in seed funding led by Innovation Endeavors. axios.link/3VFno9g

• Canary Speech, a Utah developer of voice biomarkers, raised $13m in Series A funding. Cortes Capital led, and was joined by Sorenson Communications, SMK, and Hackensack Meridian Health. canaryspeech.com

• Daisy, a Costa Mesa, Calif., small business tech installation startup, raised $11m in Series A funding. Goldcrest and Bungalow co-led, and were joined by Bullish and Burst Capital. daisyco.com

• Particle, an AI-powered news startup, raised $10.9m. Lightspeed led, and was joined by Axel Springer. axios.link/3xbqF6I

🚑 Grayce, a caregiver support startup, raised $10.4m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Backers include BBG Ventures, Correlation Ventures, GingerBread Capital, Alumni Ventures, Visible Ventures, Gaingels, and What If Ventures. axios.link/4bWDkcH

• Radian Arc, an Australian cloud gaming company, raised $9.6m in Series B funding led by Bitkraft Ventures. radianarc.io

🚑 Arya, a sexual wellness content startup, raised $7.5m in seed funding co-led by Patron and Play Ventures. axios.link/3xpXBs2

• Restate, a German platform for building resilient apps, raised $7m in seed funding. Redpoint Ventures led, and was joined by Firstminute and Essence VC. restat.dev

• Linq, an AI agent for financial analysts, raised $6.6m. InterVest and Atinum co-led, and were joined by TechStars, Kakao Ventures, Smilegate Investment, and Yellowdog. axios.link/3xp7R3P

• Symbiotic, a permissionless protocol, raised $5.8m in seed funding co-led by Paradigmand Cyber Fund. symbiotic.fi

• BlinqIO, a software testing startup, raised $5m led by Flint Capital. blinq.io

• Ship Angel, a workflow platform for cargo owners, raised $5m co-led by Glasswing Ventures and Newark Venture Partners. shipangel.com

• Vortex-io, a French water data provider, raised €2.9m. Banque des Territoires and MAIF Impact co-led, and were joined by AFI Ventures, SpaceFounders France, and the European Innovation Council. axios.link/3x2KU6B

• Stellar, a resale marketplace for lifestyle experiences, raised $2.2m in seed funding led by Human Capital, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3xgvr2U

• Alō Index, a New York data platform for sustainable corporate travel, raised $1.9m in pre-seed funding, per Axios Pro. Impellent Ventures led, and was joined by Techstars. axios.link/3VE9Hr9

• SaleSqueze, a Slovenian sales management platform for manufacturers, raised $1.5m in seed funding. Underline Ventures led, and was joined by Robin Capital and Fortech Investments. axios.link/4emRw08

• Ardian agreed to buy a stake in French wealth management firm Groupe Orion. axios.link/3Vcx8pW

• Clarity Innovations, a portfolio company of Capitol Meridian Partners, merged with cyberspace consultancy Chameleon Consulting Group. clarityinnovates.com

• Coach USA, the Megabus owner owned by Variant Equity, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. axios.link/3VE8AaK

• KKR made a minority investment in Quick Quack, a Roseville, Calif., car wash operator backed by Seidler Equity Partners (which will retain a stake). axios.link/4b1ZIAi

• Lee Equity Partners acquired Axis Insurance Managers, a Canadian specialty insurer. axisinsurance.ca

🚑 Med-Metrix, a Parsippany, N.J., portfolio company A&M Capital Partners, acquired revenue cycle manager provider Hospital Billing & Collection Service. med-metrix.com

• Stratus, a Mentor, Ohio portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners, acquired Sheboygan, Wisc., brand implementation provider Priority from Rubelmann Capital. stratusunlimited.com

• Haldiram's, an Indian snack maker, is considering an IPO as private equity sales talks have stalled, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3VEWfmE

• Lineage, a Novi, Mich.-based cold storage logistics firm that's raised billions of dollars in private funding, could seek to raise up to $3b in an upcoming IPO, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4ejhhhU

• Oabay, a Chinese provider of supply-chain finance solutions, agreed to go public at an implied $393m enterprise value via Bayview Acquisition (Nasdaq: BAYA), a SPAC led by Xin Wang (Bohai Harvest) and Yuk Man Lau (Guoxing Capital). axios.link/3RnlebN

⚡ Matador Resources (NYSE: MTDR) agreed to buy certain assets and acreage in the Delaware Basin from Ameredev II, a portfolio company of EnCap Investments, for $1.91b in cash. axios.link/3z2y60I

⚡ Alten (Paris: LTEN) agreed to buy Worldgrid, a provider of energy and utility consulting and engineering services, from Atos (Paris: ATOS) for €270m. axios.link/3xct7dc

• Madhive, a blockchain-based ad tech firm valued by VCs at $1b, agreed to acquire Frequence, a Mountain View, Calif., local ad sales automation startup. axios.link/4bVoMKn

• National Bank of Canada (TSX: NA) agreed to buy Canadian Western Bank (TSX: CWB) for around C$5b in stock. axios.link/4b5e2Ia

• Rebellions, a South Korean AI chipmaker that's raised over $100m in VC funding, agreed to merge with Sapeon, the AI chipmaking unit of SK Telecom. axios.link/4bV5W61

• Voodoo, a French mobile apps and games publisher valued by VCs at $2b, acquired social app BeReal for €500m (including earnouts). BeReal had raised around $90m from firms like Accel, a16z, Coatue, and DST Global. axios.link/3XdsLxw

• Day One Ventures raised $150m for its third fund. axios.link/3XeYxdu

🚑 Foresite Capital, a health care and life sciences VC firm, raised $900m for its sixth fund. foresitecapital.com

• Friends & Family Capital raised $118m for its third VC fund. axios.link/4cjQ510

🚑 InTandem Capital Partners, a midmarket PE firm focused on health care, raised $715m for its third fund. intandemcapital.com

• InvestBev, a private equity firm focused on adult beverages, is raising $150m for its fifth fund, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3yXY0Tj

• L Catterton is targeting $800m for its fourth pan-Asia fund, per PE International. axios.link/3VFd6WH

• Parquest, a French midmarket PE firm, raised €414m for its third fund. parquest.fr

• Permira named Brian Ruder and Dipan Patel as co-CEOs and co-managing partners. Kurt Björklund will transition into an executive chairman role. axios.link/3KFVELf

• Bihe Chen joined British PE firm Limerston Capital as operations director. She previously was with Nordic Capital. limerstoncap.com

• Anna Edgcomb rejoined Pritzker Private Capital as VP of manufactured products, while Alyson Brown (ex-Wind Point Partners) joined as VP of services. ppcpartners.com

• Steve Sleigh, president of Sleigh Strategy, joined Blue Wolf Capital Partners as a senior advisor. axios.link/4aWRauw

Shari Redstone yesterday ended talks to merge Paramount Global with Skydance Media, the David Ellison-led studio whose complicated bid was backed by both KKR and RedBird Capital Partners.

• Shares sank on the news, which also must have disappointed several Hollywood heavyweights who strongly supported Ellison.
• Redstone didn't explain, but some reports suggest she was irked by Skydance pushing down the value of Redstone's National Amusement in its revised bid.

Look ahead: Redstone now may seek to sell National Amusement without the Paramount tie-in. She also may just let the status quo ride for a while or try to reengage Apollo/Sony.