SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket is launched on its sixth test at the company’s Boca Chica launch pad in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., November 19, 2024.
Joe Skipper | Reuters
The valuation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX hit $350 billion based on a secondary share sale, CNBC confirmed on Wednesday.
SpaceX, as well as investors, agreed to buy stock from insiders in a $1.25 billion purchase offer at $185 a share, according to copies of the offer obtained by CNBC. The round does not include raising new capital, as the purchase offer represents a secondary sale of existing shares.
Notably, SpaceX is buying as much as $500 million in common stock as part of the offer, in a rare share buyback that demonstrates the strength of the privately held company’s financial position.
The company routinely performs these secondary rounds — about twice a year — to give employees and other shareholders a chance to sell stock. The latest valuation represents a 67% surge from SpaceX’s previous high of $210 billion, which the company hit through a June secondary share sale.
SpaceX’s soaring valuation comes as the company furthers its dominant position in the space industry, all while Musk has become an influential figure in the coming presidential administration.
The space company has a near-monopoly on the U.S. satellite launch market, led by its workhorse Falcon rockets, as its rivals have struggled to field operational rockets to compete.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business is a key economic driver for the company, with about 7,000 satellites launched to date and a service boasting about 5 million subscribers.
Meanwhile, its monstrous Starship continues to advance in flight tests, representing an attempt to create a next-generation reusable rocket of unprecedented scale and power.
SpaceX’s latest valuation ranks the company higher than the market value of top U.S. defense contractors. Among U.S. companies in the S&P 500, SpaceX would rank in the top 25 by market cap, between Johnson & Johnson and Bank of America, according to FactSet.
The company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the sale process. Bloomberg first reported SpaceX’s $185 a share pricing.
Musk, replying to a social media post about the SpaceX share sale, wrote 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,” Musk wrote.
