SpaceX

SpaceX reset its IPO valuation to 'at least $1.8 trillion' after earlier talk of exceeding $2 trillion, as institutional feedback forced a reality check. The company is seeking to raise up to $75 billion in what would be history's largest IPO, nearly three times Saudi Aramco's record. The S-1 filing shows $4.28 billion losses in Q1 2026 alone despite $18.7 billion revenue, while Musk retains 85% voting control. At current pricing, SpaceX would trade at roughly 96 times sales, testing how far public markets will stretch for the merged space-plus-AI story.

Musk has pre-wired his grip on SpaceX through supervoting shares and mandatory arbitration before going public later this year. The filing shows he controls 83.8% of voting power while holding just 42.5% of equity, using Texas corporate law and shareholder proposal restrictions to cement his authority. Governance experts call it highly restrictive, but investors may accept the tradeoffs for access to a company worth $400 billion. The timing matters because public market scrutiny of Musk's leadership style has intensified across his empire.

The newly redesigned rocket was fueled and seconds from launch when SpaceX called a halt, marking another setback for a system the company has spent $15 billion developing. Friday's attempt represents the third-generation architecture and a crucial test for SpaceX's broader commercial strategy, which the company warned is highly dependent on Starship's success. The scrub follows a pattern of delays that have pushed back deployment timelines for Starlink's larger satellites and NASA's lunar missions.

Musk's intergalactic ambitions run on terrestrial internet subscriptions, with Starlink's 6 million users generating the bulk of SpaceX's record revenue and $5.7 billion gross profit. The satellite internet service has evolved from beta to global utility, with projections of 35 million subscribers by 2040 and potential $120 billion annual revenue according to Morgan Stanley. Business plans start at $55 monthly with premium tiers reaching $250, creating recurring cash flow that funds Starship development and Mars colonization research. The model transforms SpaceX from a launch company into a platform play with telecom-like margins.

SpaceX submitted a confidential S-1 targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation that would dwarf Saudi Aramco's $29 billion record, but Musk retains 85% voting power despite a lower economic stake through super-voting shares. The filing shows SpaceX remains unprofitable despite multi-billion revenue from Starlink subscriptions and Falcon launches, with losses attributed to Starship development and satellite deployment costs. Public shareholders get exposure to the AI infrastructure boom through Starlink connectivity demand, but zero influence over a CEO who controls Tesla, xAI, Neuralink, and now public SpaceX simultaneously.

Goldman Sachs is anchoring SpaceX's planned $50-75 billion IPO at a $2 trillion valuation, making it the largest listing in history. The bank also arranged a $20 billion bridge loan to clean up $17.5 billion of X and xAI debt before the public debut, removing cross-company liability concerns. Separately, Goldman is offering share-backed loans to existing SpaceX investors at up to 25% of their stake value, providing liquidity while preventing selling pressure ahead of the IPO. Musk told a Tel Aviv summit he's 'back in Texas working on plans for an initial public offering' and needs to 'get the SpaceX IPO stuff going here pretty soon.' The fee pool from underwriting and lending could net Goldman hundreds of millions.

D1 Capital Partners is positioned to emerge with roughly $20 billion in SpaceX equity when the rocket maker completes its anticipated IPO next month, making it one of the largest external shareholders in what could be the decade's biggest US listing. The hedge fund accumulated its stake through late-stage funding rounds and secondary purchases from early employees as SpaceX's valuation climbed from around $30 billion in 2018 to over $200 billion today. D1's windfall reflects the crossover investment strategy of building large private positions before IPOs, though it also faced significant drawdowns during post-COVID market volatility. SpaceX's public debut will test whether investors value the combined launch services and Starlink satellite internet business at current private-market levels, particularly as Starlink becomes the dominant value driver with its recurring revenue model.

SpaceX secured an option to acquire AI coding assistant Cursor for $60 billion later this year, marking the largest pre-revenue technology acquisition in history. The deal suggests Musk's xAI desperately needs developer infrastructure as competition intensifies with OpenAI and Anthropic. Cursor's revenue remains under $100 million annually, making this a 600x revenue multiple that values potential over performance. The timing aligns with xAI's struggle to build enterprise developer tools while OpenAI slashes o3 pricing by 80 percent.

Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite internet plans hit a wall after Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket was grounded following last week's launch anomaly. The company needs 1,600 satellites in orbit by July 2026 to meet FCC requirements or forfeit its spectrum licence. With SpaceX launching 3,000 Starlink satellites annually and Blue Origin now months behind schedule, Amazon faces either expensive third-party launches or regulatory penalties. Jeff Bezos' space ambitions just became his commerce division's problem.