On Wednesday, May 3, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell addressed rumors that one of NASA's favorite space firms is gearing up for an initial public offering.
The buzz started in a trading forum when a user by the name of Joshuatree posted specifics about what would've been the biggest IPO offering the business world has known for years.
In a brief email to Reuters, Shotwell quickly quashed the alleged insider leak, saying it was simply "not true."
SpaceX Used To Lure Tesla Investors
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, more popularly known as SpaceX, was founded by serial entrepreneur and inventor, Elon Musk, in 2002.
Shotwell's response refutes Joshuatree's revelation that Empire Capital Partners, which is a hedge fund for tech startups based in Connecticut and which lists SpaceX as one of its partners, has announced a pre-IPO for Musk's spacecraft company and promised current Tesla investors an exclusive early access once they get the go signal for it.
A representative from Empire Capital Partners admitted sending the email, quickly noting, however, that "they were reaching out to clients floating the idea of a SpaceX IPO in an attempt to gather more interest from clients in Tesla, Inc.," according to an article by Teslarati.
Nonetheless, they deny having any evidence of SpaceX preparing for an IPO.
What Are The Odds Of SpaceX Going Public
An IPO involving SpaceX, or any of Musk's company, would make everyone excited — no question. Currently, Musk has already taken some of his successful ventures, such as Paypal and Tesla, public.
However, Musk has already made it clear in his previous statements that SpaceX will remain private, probably until its Mars Colonial Transporter has succeeded to shuttle passengers between Earth and Mars. The 45-year-old business magnate believes an IPO can skew SpaceX's long-term goals given the expectations of stockholders.
The chances of SpaceX rolling out IPO are also unlikely based on its current financial standing. In January 2015, it was valued somewhere between $10 and $12 billion, which surely has massively increased over the years.
Aside from a legion of private investors — such as Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Valor Equity Partners — backing it up, SpaceX has also secured significant contracts from NASA, enough to keep it stable for a long time, including a $1.6-billion contract to resupply and transport cargo to and from the International Space Station.
