Elon Musk’s SpaceX is offering to sell insider shares of the private company for US$77 apiece, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because it wasn’t public.
SpaceX would have a valuation of about $140-billion (R2.5-trillion) at that price. That compares to a $127-billion valuation in July, according to data provider PitchBook.
The company had been in talks to raise a funding round at about $85/share, Bloomberg News reported in November. A representative for SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, dominates the market for commercial space launches. The company sends payloads to orbit for private sector customers, Nasa and other government agencies. It also ferries astronauts to and from the International Space Station for Nasa, and has run the first private space tourism mission for civilians to orbit the earth for several days.
The closely held company, led by Musk, the world’s richest man, is also building a constellation of thousands of Starlink satellites to beam broadband Internet coverage to the Earth below.
Read: Nasa orders five more astronaut missions from SpaceX
Musk has previously said Starlink could be spun off in a public listing once cash flow is more predictable. In June 2021, Musk said the company would need to invest $20-billion to $30-billion to maintain Starlink’s competitive position. — Katie Roof, with Ed Ludlow, (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP