SpaceX IPO: $2 Trillion Valuation Born From Near-Bankruptcy and Russian Rejection

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By: Oliver Hawthorne

(SeaPRwire) –   Friday’s IPO officially made SpaceX one of the most valuable companies in the world. The market cap hit $2 trillion. Getting to this point was hard. Musk admitted he thought the company would fail. He gave SpaceX less than a 10% chance of succeeding at all. He spoke to employees in Texas before ringing the bell. The contrast between valuation and risk is stark. Most aerospace ventures require government backing. Musk wanted to do it alone. The anxiety of near-bankruptcy lingered for years. Three consecutive rocket explosions nearly killed the startup. The industry watched closely. Survival was never guaranteed.

Musk had just under $200 million after eBay bought PayPal. He moved to Los Angeles to get closer to aerospace talent. He initially planned to buy rockets in Russia. Trips did not go well. Musk drank so much vodka he passed out. A rocket proprietor spit at him. Owners wanted $18 million each for old Dnepr rockets. On the flight home, Musk made a spreadsheet. He turned to engineers and said they could build it themselves. Tom Mueller joined as the first hire. He asked for two years of salary in escrow. Musk invested $100 million in SpaceX. Headquarters established in Hawthorne, Calif.

The Falcon 1 creation was anything but smooth. First launch in 2006 ended in an explosion. A year later, a second launch failed. Third launch in 2008 saw stages collide. Musk had budgeted for only three launches. Money was almost out. Members of the PayPal Mafia infused cash. In September 2008, SpaceX executed a successful launch. It became the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach Earth orbit. NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract months later. Falcon 9 flew successfully for the first time in 2010. In 2015, the Falcon 9 landed the first stage back on Earth. May 2020 carried NASA astronauts to the ISS. Starship V3 towers over the Falcon 9 at 408-feet tall.

Author bio: Oliver Hawthorne, a Principal Correspondent permanently stationed at an international technology review.