SpaceX valuation to hit around US$400 billion in share sale

[SAN FRANCISCO] SpaceX is discussing plans to raise money and sell insider shares in a deal that would value Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite maker at around US$400 billion, sources familiar with the matter said.

That would mark the largest-ever valuation for a privately held US company, surpassing SpaceX’s previous record of US$350 billion from its share buyback in December and rivalling the values of TikTok owner ByteDance and OpenAI.

A representative for SpaceX, formerly known as Space Exploration Technologies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The valuation reflects a range of factors, including the rise of its fast-growing Starlink satellite Internet unit, which sources familiar with the matter said accounts for more than half of SpaceX’s annual revenue, and the company’s ability to achieve new milestones with its Starship rocket programme.

SpaceX, already among the industry’s preeminent rocket launch providers, is working to get development of the revolutionary launch system back on track after a string of explosive setbacks, including a huge blast on its test stand in Texas in June.

Musk, the world’s richest person, is also again locked in a tit-for-tat public feud with US President Donald Trump over the president’s landmark spending and tax-cut package, and has teased the idea of launching a new political party. The latest sparring further erodes a one-time alliance between Musk and the White House that signalled a windfall of opportunity across the billionaire’s business empire.

SpaceX’s strategy involves launching a primary fundraising round during which it would sell a small number of new shares to investors, said some of the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing nonpublic information. One of SpaceX’s fundraising rounds, in 2021, took in some US$850 million.

Then concurrently, SpaceX would sell employee and early investor shares in a secondary offering, with the price being determined by the primary round.

The details could change depending on interest from insider sellers and buyers, as has happened during previous company buybacks, said the sources. BLOOMBERG