If reports are to be believed, SpaceX could make its public market debut next year at a staggering $1.5 trillion valuation. That would place the rocket-maker among the largest IPOs in history, a milestone not just for the space industry, but for global capital markets more broadly.
For admirers of Elon Musk, the move would be a watershed moment: the chance to own a slice of a company that has rewritten the economics of space flight, dominated the growing satellite internet market and positioned itself as a future linchpin of off-world infrastructure.
But enormous hype does not preclude enormous risk. As Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, notes, a SpaceX IPO would fundamentally reset investor dynamics around Musk’s empire, and not necessarily in a way that benefits everyone. Tesla shareholders, in particular, could find that the cult-like “Elon premium” underpinning Tesla’s lofty valuation begins to erode once markets have more than one Musk-led vehicle to choose from.
Beyond that, SpaceX faces a series of structural headwinds that could complicate what many assume will be a smooth ascent to the public markets. Here are the five most pressing.
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