SpaceX May Not Have a Stock Ticker, But You Can (Maybe) Still Invest in It
Key Takeaways
- SpaceX’s current valuation sits around $150 billion
- Starlink, owned by SpaceX is expected to turn a profit this year
- The company, owned by Elon Musk, is still privately held, but there are ways to buy the stock
Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the mission of revolutionizing aerospace. Musk wanted to reduce the cost of space travel and maybe even colonize Mars. While not all of that has happened yet, SpaceX has racked up some significant successes and become one of the most valuable start-ups in the world.
But if you’re looking for the SpaceX stock ticker, you won’t find it. The company is still privately held and isn’t listed on any major stock exchange. That doesn’t mean you can’t invest in it (and other privately held companies).
We’ll explain below.
How does investing in private companies work?
For now, SpaceX is still raising capital through venture and private equity funds, so there’s no indication that it’s about to go public. If you don’t want to wait around for the IPO, it is possible to get your hands on some of those private shares — it’s just not super easy, or particularly cheap.
First things first: Are you accredited to be legally eligible to purchase private shares? Here’s what the SEC requires for that:
- Net worth of more than $1 million
- Income of $200,000 per year if you’re single ($300,000 with a spouse)
- Valid securities license (FINRA Series 7, 65, or 82).
Check, check, check? Ok, next we have to find those shares for sale. SpaceX shares are held by industry insiders, like VC firms, angel investors, private equity funds, and some other corporations. Someone in that mix may want to sell their shares, and because that’s a fairly common occurrence, there are now firms that specialize in connecting private company insiders with potential investors like yourself. By working through one such firm, you can land yourself some SpaceX.
Is SpaceX worth it?
SpaceX is one of the most valuable private companies in the world — a “centicorn,” or a $1 billion unicorn, 100 times over.
While Mars colonization hasn’t happened yet, SpaceX dominates the U.S. satellite launch market. Starlink, another of Musk’s ventures owned by SpaceX, sells internet connections to almost anyone through a network of private satellites in orbit. Starlink has acquired a reported 1.5 million subscribers in about three years. It also won a Pentagon contract to offer Starlink in Ukraine, and, although the numbers of that contract aren’t public, Starlink is projected to become profitable in 2023.
Will Starlink have its own IPO? President Gwynne Shotwell said there was “no update” on that earlier this year.
The bottom line
Private space ventures are new and fast-evolving, so it’s hard to tell whether SpaceX is worth every penny of that hefty valuation. But, say what you will about him, Elon Musk is a determined visionary and it’s also hard to bet against him. If you can get a piece of the SpaceX pie, it just might pay off big time.
