As Tesla Stumbles, SpaceX's Finances Go From Strength to Strength

Collapsing electric-vehicle sales, political fallout and an AI chatbot publishing antisemitic posts—much of Elon Musk's business empire is in disarray.

- Micah Maidenberg & Becky Peterson

But the executive's rocket-and-satellite company remains as dominant as ever, riding high on the strength of technologies that rivals haven't mastered and deep relationships with U.S. government officials.

Privately held SpaceX has been working on a sale of employee shares that would value it at $400 billion, up 14% from six months ago, according to people familiar with the situation. Bloomberg reported earlier on the new valuation.

Musk, who controls SpaceX with a more than 40% stake, recently projected close to $16 billion in revenue at the company this year. That would be up more than three times versus 2022. Its Starlink satellite business has stoked those gains with a rapid global expansion.

Meanwhile, SpaceX is sitting on more than $3 billion in cash, which has helped the company to expand without raising new capital, people familiar with the matter said. SpaceX has carved out powerful positions on several fronts. Its launch division frequently handles high-stakes government and commercial missions. The company has reeled in major wins through Starshield, a national-security satellite effort. Starlink, a huge satellite-internet network, now has around 8,000 satellites speeding through low Earth-orbit.

"I hope others can catch up. Competition is good for industries," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at an investor event in November. "On launch, and both satellite production and deployment, we are ahead."

One of the big questions right now at SpaceX is Starship, the vehicle Musk has said would reach Mars years ago. Engineers and technicians are wrestling with repeated failures of the experimental rocket, including an explosion last month in Texas that shook homes miles away.