THE SECRETS UNEARTHED BY MUSK'S SPACEX IPO

SpaceX filing reveals a $4.28 billion loss, even as Elon Musk’s plans to keep tight control over the company

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SpaceX's Starship spacecraft sits atop the Super Heavy Booster as preparations continue for the 12th test flight of the Starship spacecraft in Starbase, Texas, US., on Wednesday.

(REUTERS)

SpaceX filed publicly for what stands to be the largest-ever initial public offering (IPO), revealing billions in losses and the super-voting share plan allowing Elon Musk to keep the company under his control.

The rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence (AI) giant is giving the billionaire the power to outvote anyone else, and promising him outsize rewards, including as many as 1 billion shares, if he can pull it off, according to a filing on Wednesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The goals Musk, 54, would need to hit include a human settlement on Mars with at least 1 million inhabitants, the filing shows. Before that can happen, SpaceX is tasked with making the dream of data centres in space a reality, part of what it says is the largest total addressable market in history, at $28.5 trillion.

The question for investors is whether the sum of Musk’s aspirations for SpaceX are worth valuing at as much as $2 trillion, viewed in light of financial disclosures that seem minuscule by comparison. SpaceX had a net loss of $4.28 billion on revenue of $4.69 billion for the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $528 million on revenue of about $4 billion a year earlier, the filing shows.

Musk’s plan for an IPO of unprecedented size is set to transform both the public and private markets if it succeeds. A blockbuster listing, and a rising share price after, would help dispel concern over whether private companies with limited financial disclosures and largely illiquid shares are reaching unjustified valuations in venture capital-led funding rounds.