SpaceX has officially informed its employees that the company is preparing for a possible initial public offering (IPO) next year, a statement that confirms recent market rumors.
SpaceX CFO Brett Johnson wrote in an internal memo to employees on Friday: "We are preparing for a potential IPO in 2026. Our thinking is that if we execute well enough and the capital markets are favorable, the IPO could raise a significant amount of money for the company."
The memo shows that Johnson emphasized that whether the company will eventually go public and the specific timeline "remain highly uncertain." He also did not disclose in the memo the valuation level the company might seek in the IPO.
However, sources familiar with the matter revealed that Johnson disclosed in the memo that the latest internal stock pricing was $421 per share, which means that SpaceX's overall valuation is about $800 billion, significantly higher than the valuation level of about $400 billion earlier this year.
Previously, multiple media outlets reported that SpaceX was evaluating the possibility of launching an IPO in 2026.
In his memo, Johnson wrote that if the IPO goes ahead, the funds raised will be used to: increase the launch frequency of Starship rockets to "crazy levels" and deploy artificial intelligence in space. (AI) Data Center And to advance unmanned and manned Mars missions.
SpaceX is currently the world's busiest rocket launch company, with its Falcon 9 rockets frequently launching satellites for customers while also sending its own Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
The Starlink system currently has more than 9,000 satellites deployed to provide high-speed satellite internet service . In recent years, its business scale has expanded rapidly.
SpaceX's decision to consider going public has surprised some long-time associates of the company, whose core mission has long been to realize Elon Musk's dream of landing on Mars.
As early as 12 years ago, Musk stated that SpaceX would only go public when its spacecraft could regularly fly to Mars. In a 2013 post, he wrote: "Mars missions require more than a decade to develop complex technologies, but the public market only cares about the next three months. The two goals are bound to conflict."
In addition, Musk has publicly expressed his support for Tesla on multiple occasions. The weariness of regulatory and litigation pressures faced by publicly traded companies, including those related to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission . Friction with regulators and investor lawsuits surrounding its compensation scheme.
At the same time, despite not being publicly listed, SpaceX has established a mature internal equity liquidity mechanism, which typically provides current and former employees with two opportunities each year to cash out their shares.
As a privately held company, SpaceX does not disclose detailed financial data. However, Musk stated earlier this year that the company's revenue this year is expected to be approximately $15.5 billion. This month, he also posted on SpaceX that SpaceX has "achieved positive free cash flow for several consecutive years."
Investors generally welcomed reports that SpaceX was considering going public, believing it would provide funding for Musk's ambitious Mars plans and could potentially value the rocket and satellite company at over $1 trillion.
(Article source: CLS)
