SpaceX is making plans to raise tens of billions of dollars through an initial public offering next year, multiple outlets have reported, and Ars can confirm. This represents a major change in thinking for the world's leading space company and its founder, Elon Musk.
The Wall Street Journal and The Information first reported on a possible IPO last Friday, and Bloomberg followed that up Tuesday evening with a report suggesting the company would seek a $1.5 trillion valuation. This would allow SpaceX to raise more than $30 billion.
It involves a huge amount of financing. The largest IPO in history took place in 2019, when the Saudi state oil company went public under the name Aramco and raised $29 billion. In terms of turnover, Aramco is among the top five in the world.
Now SpaceX is poised to potentially match or exceed this value. That SpaceX would be attractive to public investors is no surprise: It is the world's dominant space company in launch, space-based communications and much more. For investors looking for unlimited growth, space is the last frontier.
But why would Musk take SpaceX public now, at a time when the company's revenues are soaring thanks to the growth of the Starlink internet constellation? The decision is surprising because Musk has resisted taking SpaceX public for so long. He has not enjoyed Tesla's public attention and feared that shareholders' desire for financial returns would be inconsistent with his ultimate goal of settling Mars.
Data centers
Ars spoke to several people familiar with Musk and his thinking to understand why he might want to take SpaceX public.
A major shift in recent years has been the rise of artificial intelligence, which Musk has been involved in since 2015, when he co-founded OpenAI. He later fell out with his co-founders and started his own company, xAI, in 2023. At Tesla he advanced smart driving technology and more recently focused on robotics. Musk sees a convergence of these technologies in the near future, which he believes will profoundly change civilization.
By raising large amounts of money over the next 18 months, Musk could have significant capital to deploy at SpaceX as he influences and participates in this convergence of technology.
How can SpaceX play in this space? In the short term, the company plans to develop a modified version of the Starlink satellite, which will serve as a basis for building data centers in space. Musk said in late October on the social media network he owns, X: “SpaceX is going to do this.”
