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SpaceX IPO: AI Ambitions, Astronomical Valuation, and Musk’s Iron Grip

Financial Times Companies •
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SpaceX released a 200,000‑word prospectus that maps an AI‑centric strategy and plans for asteroid mining. The filing shows the company sees its own rockets as a launchpad for a $26.5tn AI market, dwarfing the $2tn Starlink revenue stream. Musk’s vision blends space travel with cloud computing for future innovation and profitability globally today.

Musk’s IPO plan grants him 93.6% of a class‑B super‑voting share set, allowing instant control over 1.3bn shares that vest as SpaceX hits milestones. The filing also reveals a $15bn annual lease from Anthropic to use Colossus data centres, potentially generating $45bn by 2029 and offsetting the firm’s $13bn AI hardware spend for future growth.

Leadership stakes mirror the deal’s scale: Musk owns 5.1bn vested shares worth about $700bn, while executives Shotwell and Johnsen hold stakes worth over $1bn each. A $1.75tn valuation could lift Musk to trillionaire status, but the filing flags risks from regulatory scrutiny, launch‑site safety, and the company’s recent $131mn Tesla Cybertruck purchase and investors watch.

The IPO, led by Goldman Sachs, will list shares through Schwab, Fidelity and Robinhood, while legal counsel includes Gibson Dunn. Investors face a 366‑day lock‑up for Musk and other large holders, double the norm, reflecting the company’s concentrated control. The filing’s 37 pages of risk disclosures underscore the technical and regulatory hurdles that could delay the launch.