According to people familiar with the matter, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is in funding talks that could see the company’s valuation soar to $125 billion, Bloomberg reported.
As Elon Musk continues to trend online, the aerospace company is aiming to become the most valuable startup in the U.S., despite some challenges to SpaceX’s expansion; some involving Musk himself.
Rocketing value
According to CBInsights, the $125-billion valuation would make SpaceX “the highest valued U.S. startup” ever. The new valuation is a leap from the $100-billion valuation that it was able to achieve last year, one of the anonymous sources close to the matter said.
The company hopes to gain at least $1.725 billion in new capital, with shares marketed at around $72, which is a jump from last October when its shares were trading at just $56.
SpaceX also launched a secondary sale — a way for stockholders to sell equity — for company insiders and shareholders for as much as $750 million in common stock.
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With the $125-billion valuation, SpaceX could beat fintech company Stripe, which is valued at $115 billion.
Regulatory filings show that SpaceX raised $337.4 million in December, and another $1.16 billion in equity financing in April.
The New York Post reported on May 18, that the company was searching for more funding, stating that the capital increase has seen “tepid demand” so far.
The new funds would help SpaceX fund their current expensive projects, including a “next generation rocket Starship” and Starlink, its “global satellite internet network.”
At the moment, the company is facing competition with Blue Origin, the space venture of former Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, and Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson’s own space venture.
SpaceX has completed cargo payloads and sent astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), in addition to launching 19 rockets in 2022 alone. The company also announced a new “Starlink for RVs” internet service, allowing subscribers to access the Internet when they are on the road.
Meanwhile, Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla has recently held discussions with the Indonesian government in the hopes of expanding both Tesla and SpaceX to Southeast Asia.
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Musk’s troubles
Despite the promise of growth, SpaceX has recently come under fire after a report from Business Insider claimed that the company paid a flight attendant $250,000 as compensation over a claim of sexual misconduct by Musk himself.
According to the claim, the flight attendant, a member of the cabin crew for SpaceX’s corporate jet fleet, accused Musk in 2016 of exposing his penis to her, rubbing her leg without consent, and offering her a horse for an “erotic massage,” Business Insider wrote.
In a declaration signed by a friend of the attendant, she said that she was “encouraged” to become a licensed masseuse for Musk, and that Musk “propositioned” her during one massage session in a private cabin.
The friend was also told that the attendant felt “she was being pushed out and punished for refusing to prostitute herself.”
Upon being contacted by Business Insider, Musk said that he needed “more time to respond” and that there is “a lot more to this story.”
In 2018, the attendant hired a California employment lawyer and complained to SpaceX’s human resources department about the alleged misconduct. In November that year, Musk, SpaceX and the attendant agreed to give the latter severance for as much as $250,000 in exchange for “a promise not to sue over the claims.”
