Elon Musk's SpaceX nears $150 billion valuation after secondary share sale

The valuation of Elon Musk's SpaceX deed adjacent $150 cardinal pursuing a stock merchantability by existing investors announced this week, CNBC has learned.

SpaceX has an statement with caller and existing investors to merchantability up to $750 cardinal successful banal from insiders astatine $81 a share, according to a transcript of the acquisition connection sent by CFO Bret Johnsen connected Thursday, which CNBC obtained.

The institution did not denote a rise of caller superior astatine this time, with the acquisition connection representing a secondary merchantability of existing shares. Musk successful April said that the institution does "not expect needing to rise funding" to further bolster the programs for Starship, Starlink and different initiatives. SpaceX typically performs these secondary rounds astir doubly a year, to springiness employees and different institution shareholders a accidental to merchantability stock.

The caller stock terms represents an summation of astir 5% from its erstwhile secondary merchantability astatine $77 each, astatine a valuation of astir $140 billion. SpaceX did not respond to a CNBC petition for remark connected the acquisition offer.

Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal antecedently reported the company's program to merchantability shares.

SpaceX continues to fertile arsenic 1 of the astir invaluable backstage companies successful the world, classifying it arsenic a "centicorn" oregon "hectocorn" – a $1 cardinal unicorn, 100 times over.

The institution has established a near-monopoly connected the U.S. outer motorboat market, thanks to its workhorse Falcon rockets and the struggles of rivals to tract operational rockets to compete. Last month, SpaceX landed an orbital rocket booster for the 200th clip and has launched 47 times truthful acold this year, putting the institution astatine a blistering mean of a motorboat each 4 days.

Musk's institution has launched astir 5,000 of its Starlink net satellites to date.The work has grown to much than 1.5 cardinal subscribers successful nether 3 years since its debut. SpaceX besides projected that "Starlink volition marque money" successful 2023, having achieved a currency travel affirmative 4th past year. It won a Pentagon declaration past period to supply Starlink work successful Ukraine, for an undisclosed amount.

SpaceX continues to walk heavy connected improvement of its next-generation Starship rocket. Musk expects the institution to walk astir $2 cardinal connected the vehicle's improvement this year. The archetypal Starship formation got disconnected the launchpad and achieved respective milestones, but besides had aggregate problems. SpaceX is preparing to effort a 2nd motorboat successful the coming months, but awaits Federal Aviation Administration support successful bid to bash so. The FAA is besides warring an biology suit over however it regulates SpaceX's Starship.

But SpaceX remains quiescent astir the imaginable IPO of its Starlink business. President Gwynne Shotwell said earlier this twelvemonth that determination is "no update." Last year, CNBC reported that Musk told employees that the institution isn't apt to instrumentality Starlink nationalist until 2025 oregon later.