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Following months of rumors, Bloomberg reports that Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, bringing it one step closer to what could easily be the single-biggest listing in history.
Inside sources told the broadcaster that the company had submitted a draft IPO registration to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, while trying to keep the plans under wraps. A confidential listing allows companies to make changes ahead of a filing based on regulator feedback. The paperwork puts the company on track for a June listing, sources told Bloomberg.
That means it likely has yet to set a number of shares and price range. Nonetheless, the scale of the offering could be absolutely enormous, with the latest estimates suggesting SpaceX could be going public with a valuation of north of $1.75 trillion.
The news comes two months after Musk’s embattled AI startup xAI was folded into the rocket manufacturer, highlighting its ambition to launch a megaconstellation of up to one million orbital data centers, according to the mercurial CEO.
Naturally, Musk is seemingly looking to retain a considerable amount of power over the company he founded back in 2002. Per Bloomberg, the company is considering a dual-class share structure, which could give insiders, including the richest man in the world, extra voting power.
Meanwhile, the pressure continues to mount as all eyes are on SpaceX’s super heavy launch platform Starship, which NASA is still hoping to tap for its first attempts to land humans on the lunar surface in over 50 years. The company has yet to successfully launch its Starship into orbit and then safely land it — something it will be required to do almost a dozen times to fuel up for a single trip to the Moon.
There have also been signs of narrative adjustment. After decades of pushing for the first human landing on Mars, Musk recently revealed that SpaceX has “already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon” instead, as it’s closer and easier to reach than the Red Planet.
But given the current state of its Starship — the key component of not only its ambitions to reach the Moon and Mars, but its Starlink internet and data center megaconstellation as well — SpaceX has work ahead of it to convince public investors.
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