After a stock buy-back deal between SpaceX, its investors and insiders, Elon Musk’s pioneering space venture has hit a valuation of $350 billion.
According to a report from CNBC, shares were sold at $185 each. The company reportedly carried out these secondary sales twice a year to allow employees and shareholders a chance to sell their shares.
Musk says that it was tough finding shareholders who wanted to sell up. He posted on his social media platform, X, that “almost no investors wanted to sell shares” at the new $350 billion valuation. “SpaceX reduced the amount of shares it bought back from employees in order to allow some new investors in,” he added.
The valuation confirms that the company is now dominant in the US space industry. Its falcon rockets are now described as the “work horses” of the space world, taking satellites into orbit. Musk also owns a satellite business called Starlink, and has 7000 satellites in orbit.
According to SpaceXstats.xyz, by the end of this year, there would have been 135 Falcon launches. This includes 126 Falcon 9 launches and two Falcon Heavy launches. The first of the Falcon 9s was launched on 4th June 2010 and these medium-lift launch rockets have been transporting satellites and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft ever since. Competitors like Blue Origins can simply not compete, says CNBC. This is despite owner Jeff Bezos claiming that his space venture will be bigger than Amazon.
