Elon Musk’s SpaceX is kicking off a secondary share sale that values the company at a staggering $800 billion. Alongside this massive financial boost, the company is telling investors that an initial public offering (IPO) could happen as soon as the end of next year.
This new price tag places the aerospace giant well above OpenAI. The creators of ChatGPT recently completed their own share sale in October at a $500 billion valuation. With this latest move, Musk’s defense and space contractor cements its position as a financial titan, surpassing the world’s leading AI developer.
SpaceX continues to spend heavily to maintain its lead in the sector. The team is investing in reusable rockets, expanding launch facilities, and deploying satellites. While rivals like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin fight for government contracts, SpaceX remains far ahead of the pack. They currently operate the world’s largest network of low Earth orbit satellites through Starlink, which powers their global internet service.
Notably, a SpaceX IPO would include the Starlink business. While the company previously considered spinning Starlink off as a separate entity, it is now keeping the businesses together for this potential market debut.
Musk touched on the possibility of going public during Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting last month. As the CEO of both companies, he has mixed feelings about Wall Street. He told the crowd he generally dislikes running public companies because they attract “spurious lawsuits” and the added scrutiny can “make it very difficult to operate effectively.”
However, he also wants to reward his supporters. Musk said during the meeting that he wants to “figure out some way for Tesla shareholders to participate in SpaceX.” He admitted that despite the headaches that come with trading publicly, “maybe at some point, SpaceX should become a public company despite all the downsides.” For now, the company is focused on growth, but the path to the stock market is officially open.
