Musk’s space company: SpaceX completes record IPO

SpaceX is making its debut on the stock exchange as planned with a valuation of 1.77 trillion dollars – and is immediately worth more than the Facebook group Meta. With the IPO, Musk will become the first person with a fortune of more than a trillion dollars – at least on paper, measured by the value of his SpaceX shares and shares in the electric car manufacturer Tesla, which he also runs.

Billions in losses on SpaceX’s balance sheet

SpaceX’s pure business figures are in stark contrast to its stock market value – investors are more likely to pay for the hope of future success. Last year there were losses of around 4.94 billion dollars on sales of 18.67 billion dollars (a good 16 billion euros).

In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX posted a loss of $4.28 billion on sales of around $4.7 billion. One reason for the red numbers is the high costs of developing the large Starship rocket.

SpaceX invested a total of more than $15 billion in Starship. Company management expects that the rocket will be able to conduct commercial flights in the second half of the year after all tests are completed. It is intended to significantly reduce the costs of transport into space. Starship will also be used to put Starlink satellites into orbit, which will make the Internet available from space directly on smartphones.

Better numbers thanks to Starlink

Starlink is SpaceX’s central moneymaker and generated $3.26 billion in sales in the first quarter. The satellite internet service now has around 10.3 million customers in 164 countries.

In the future, artificial intelligence will be the biggest business – also through data centers in space. The idea behind it is that the sun can provide a lot of energy there. However, skeptics point to problems such as the considerable construction costs, difficult cooling despite the low temperatures in space, and radiation that can damage circuits.

Musk is in charge

With a voting share of more than 80 percent, Musk will retain full control of SpaceX even after the IPO. The basis for this is shares with more voting rights.

Unlike many other IPOs, SpaceX set the issue price of $135 in advance. Typically, companies first name a range – and then determine the price based on investor interest.

Windfall for early investors

For SpaceX’s early backers, the IPO will be a windfall. According to the financial service Bloomberg, the investment firm Founders Fund owned by Musk’s long-time companion Peter Thiel holds a stake of around three percent, which was acquired for around $600 million. The stake is worth more than $50 billion at the issue price. The venture financier Sequoia Capital has invested around $2 billion – and now holds a stake worth more than $20 billion.