Elon Musk’s SpaceX files for record US$75b IPO at US$1.2t valuation

Elon Musk's SpaceX has filed confidential papers with US securities regulators to go public, US media have reported. Photo / Patrick T. Fallon, AFP

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has filed papers with United States regulators that set the stage for what could be the largest public stock offering yet, a source familiar with the matter has told AFP.

The confidential filing puts the rocket and satellite builder on track to list its shares on a public exchange by July, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified sources.

Media reports have said the initial public offering (IPO) could be valued at US$75 billion ($130.4b) or more, for a venture with stratospheric ambitions.

The IPO looks set to blow past a record from 2019, when the oil group Saudi Aramco raised US$25.6 billion.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment, and officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment.

If successful, SpaceX could arrive on Wall Street with a valuation exceeding US$1.75 trillion, putting it among the world’s 10 biggest companies by market capitalisation.

After it acquired xAI in early February, SpaceX was valued at US$1.25 trillion.

Analysts have said that taking SpaceX public would require it and Musk to maintain greater transparency, particularly about its revenues.

It could also expose the company to investor pressure to focus on profits instead of long-term investments, such as Musk’s plan to build a rocket for sending people to Mars.

‘Enamoured’ investors

When the documents are released, SpaceX’s IPO filing will likely reveal details about its operations, including its satellite and rocket manufacturing, alongside its xAI artificial intelligence arm.

Given that investors appear “enamoured” with Musk’s space and artificial intelligence ambitions, SpaceX could “probably get away with listing in a less exuberant market than some other companies might”, said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.

Matthew Kennedy, a senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, said he had few concerns that SpaceX would be able to raise such a massive amount of capital, even as markets are roiled by the ongoing war in the Middle East.

“US markets are some of the largest, most robust fundraising in the world, and this is a unique company that has captured the imagination of a lot of investors.”

He also noted investor enthusiasm about potential advancements in space exploration and in AI, alongside the cash to be made in the telecoms sector.

Besides SpaceX, two other tech heavyweights, the AI developers OpenAI and Anthropic, are reportedly planning IPOs this year.

SpaceX, which dominates the space-launching market with its reusable rockets, is owned by Musk alongside several investment funds and tech companies, including Google’s parent, Alphabet.

The company’s rockets vastly reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbit. SpaceX is also the owner of the Starlink satellite constellation.

In February, Musk announced that SpaceX would take over his artificial intelligence outfit xAI, a step in the billionaire’s plan to use SpaceX’s rockets to launch solar-powered, satellite-based data centres to run future AI models.

- Agence France-Presse