20 years after the founding of SpaceX, Elon Musk is preparing the company’s listing on the stock exchange in an operation with million-dollar figures. According to information provided by France 24 and AFPthe operation could raise more than 30 billion dollars and value the company at up to 1.5 billion, which would place it as the largest IPO ever.
SpaceX belongs to Musk and several investment funds and also has participation from technological giants such as Alphabet, responsible for Google. Going public would attract a wider range of investors and provide greater liquidity to current shareholders.
“It’s a business that requires a lot of capital,” explains Matthew Kennedy of Renaissance Capital. “Public markets are clearly larger and liquidity is important, including to facilitate acquisitions.”
According to data cited by the agency, the amount to be raised would greatly exceed approximately 10 billion dollars raised by the company since its creation. The context is favorable: the space industry, valued at 630 billion dollars in 2023, expected to triple by 2035according to the World Economic Forum.
SpaceX leads the space launch market with reusable rockets and has the largest constellation of satellites in the world, through Starlink. For Clayton Swope, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, this is an exceptional case: “It’s a rare phenomenon, almost a ‘black swan’, difficult to compare with the rest of the space economy.”
The decision comes despite reservations expressed by Musk over the years. Founded in 2002, SpaceX is closely linked to the ambition of colonizing Mars, an objective that requires high investments, such as the development of the Starship rocket. “The answer is quite simple,” Swope said. “He wants to rev up the engine of his vision for humanity on Mars.”
Still according to France 24, listing on the stock exchange will imply greater scrutiny and demand for financial transparency for Musk’s company. For Mason Peck, professor of astronautical engineering at Cornell University, this could condition the company’s experimental approach.
“It is possible that SpaceX will become more limited in the short term,” he admitted, warning of the risk of the company becoming more conservative under pressure from shareholders.