Elon Musk’s SpaceX near $150 billion valuation after stock sale

SpaceX’s valuation of Elon Musk has reached nearly $150 billion after a stock sale by existing investors was announced this week, CNBC has learned.

SpaceX has an agreement with new and existing investors to sell up to $750 million in shares from Insiders at $81 a share, according to a copy of the buyout offer sent by Chief Financial Officer Brett Johnson Thursday, which was obtained by CNBC.

The company has not announced a new capital increase at this time, as the purchase offer represents a secondary sale of existing shares. Musk said in April that the company “does not foresee the need for increased funding” to advance the Starship and Starlink programs and other initiatives. SpaceX typically conducts these secondary rounds twice a year, to give employees and other company shareholders a chance to sell stock.

The new share price represents an increase of about 5% from its previous secondary sale at $77 per share, for a valuation of approximately $140 billion. SpaceX did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the purchase offer.

bloomberg And The Wall Street Journal I previously mentioned the company’s plan to sell shares.

SpaceX continues to rank as one of the most valuable private companies in the world, designating it as a “senticorn” or “hectocorn” – a $1 billion unicorn, 100 times.

The company has carved out a near monopoly on the satellite launch market in the United States, thanks to its giant Falcon rockets and rival operational rocketry rivals’ struggles. Last month, SpaceX landed an orbital rocket booster for the 200th time and has launched 47 times so far this year, which puts the company at an impressive rate of launches every four days.

Musk’s company has launched nearly 5,000 of its Starlink internet satellites to date, and the service has grown to more than 1.5 million subscribers in less than three years since its inception. SpaceX also predicted that Starlink would “make money” in 2023, after posting a positive cash flow quarter last year. It won a contract with the Pentagon last month to provide Starlink service in Ukraine, for an undisclosed amount.

SpaceX continues to spend heavily on developing its next-generation Starship rocket. Musk expects the company to spend about $2 billion developing the car this year. The spacecraft’s first flight exited the launch pad and achieved many accomplishments, but also encountered multiple problems. SpaceX is preparing to attempt a second launch in the coming months, but is waiting for approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to do so. The FAA is also fighting an environmental lawsuit over how it regulated SpaceX’s Starship.

But SpaceX remains silent about the possible IPO of its Starlink business. President Gwen Shotwell said earlier this year that there is “no update.” Last year, CNBC reported that Musk told employees the company was unlikely to take Starlink public until 2025 or later.