SpaceX tender offer would value Elon Musk's space company at $210 billion, report says

By James Rogers

SpaceX's valuation is once again in the spotlight

Elon Musk's SpaceX will sell insider shares in a tender offer that values the private space company at over $200 billion, according to a report.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that SpaceX will sell insider shares at $112 apiece, valuing the company at close to $210 billion.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Late last year, Bloomberg reported another tender offer that valued SpaceX at around $180 billion. Last month, SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk dismissed a report that SpaceX was considering selling existing shares.

Related: These space stocks deserve attention, analysts say

Alphabet Inc.-owned Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and fund manager Fidelity are among SpaceX's investors, alongside others such as billionaire investor Ron Baron.

Fortuna Investments CEO Justus Parmar, whose venture-capital firm is an investor in SpaceX and other space companies, told MarketWatch he believes two primary factors are boosting SpaceX's valuation.

For one, the company's Starlink satellite-internet constellation is poised to grow its network from regional to global relatively quickly, thanks to an international push from Musk over the past year, he explained. "With billions of new customers across the globe, along with new initiatives like smaller mobile satellites, it's looking like a surefire revenue driver," Parmar said in an email.

Parmar also thinks that SpaceX's Starship spacecraft and launch rocket will be a game changer. "Once it's fully functional, it will allow the cadence of deliveries to increase exponentially, but also allow heavier, bigger payloads to launch into space," he said. "And it likely isn't even being factored fully into today's record-breaking valuation."

Related: Elon Musk hails 'epic' SpaceX Starship test flight as spacecraft makes Indian Ocean splashdown

The Fortuna Investments CEO thinks that, with $9 billion in revenue last year and Starlink and Starship poised to grow the company further, there is potential for SpaceX to become a $1 trillion to $2 trillion company.

Recent months have been busy for SpaceX, which recently completed the fourth test flight of its Starship, marking another milestone for the company's giant spacecraft and rocket. The largest rocket ever built, Starship provides more than twice the thrust of the Saturn V rockets that took NASA astronauts to the moon. Together, the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket are 396 feet high, taller than the Statue of Liberty or NASA's Saturn V rocket.

Starship is designed to play a key role in returning humans to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program, as well as in future Mars exploration missions.

Related: Elon Musk denies report SpaceX may sell some of its shares amid $200 billion valuation

The company is also maintaining a high launch tempo, kicking off the year by sending its first Starlink direct-to-cell satellites into orbit. Last year, the company completed more than 90 launches and is targeting 12 launches a month in 2024.

On Tuesday, SpaceX launched the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-U satellite into geostationary orbit atop a Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Early Thursday, SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida, hitting a reusable-rocket milestone. The mission marked the first time that SpaceX has completed 22 launches and landings of the same booster.

In April, a Starlink launch marked the 300th time that SpaceX had landed a rocket booster after launch.

Related: Elon Musk and SpaceX hit reusable-rocket milestone with Starlink satellite launch

IPO spinoff talk has also spun around Starlink over the past year.

Barbara Kollmeyer contributed.

-James Rogers

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06-27-24 1324ET

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