Elon Musk’s SpaceX hits $100 billion valuation after secondary share sale - CNBC
By Arghyadeep on Oct 09, 2021 | 05:39 AM IST
• SpaceX’s valuation jumped to $100.30 billion following a secondary share sale by insiders
• The company struck a deal to sell up to $755 million in stock from at $560 a share
• The new valuation made SpaceX the second most private valuable company
Elon Mask’s rocket company Space Exploration Technologies Corp or SpaceX’s valuation has crossed $100 billion following a share sale by existing investors announced this week, CNBC reported on Friday.
SpaceX, the private space transportation company, has struck a deal to sell up to $755 million in stock from insiders at $560 a share to new and existing investors, which increased the valuation of the company to $100.3 billion, the report said, citing multiple people familiar with the deal.
While the purchase offer represents a secondary sale of existing shares, the company did not raise any new capital at the time, sources told CNBC.
The new deal raised the price of the shares from $419.99 a share, a 33% premium when SpaceX’s raised nearly $1.2 billion in February, valuing the company $74 billion.
SpaceX’s new valuation makes it one of the world’s rare private “centicorn” or “hectocorn” companies.
Musk’s SpaceX is now the second-most valuable private company globally, according to CB Insights, behind Chinese internet company Bytedance and jumping past fintech firm Stripe.
Read More: Musk offers SpaceX's services to build spacesuit for NASA
SpaceX projects
The company’s valuation has soared in the last few years as SpaceX has raised billions to fund Starship and Starlink, its two capital-intensive projects.
Starlink is an interconnected satellite constellation designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere on the planet. To date, SpaceX has launched 1,740 Starlink satellites, and Starlink has more than 100,000 users in 14 countries participating in public beta testing.
Starship is the next-generation rocket SpaceX is developing to launch cargo and people on the moon and Mars missions.
Read More: Elon Musk mocks Biden for not acknowledging SpaceX’s all-civilian mission
The company is testing prototypes at a facility in southern Texas and has flown multiple short test flights. Reaching orbit is the next step in testing the rocket, with SpaceX awaiting regulatory approval for its next launch.
Picture Credit: Fortune