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Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX is poised to become the most valuable U.S. startup as its valuation rose to over $125 billion in an ongoing share sale in the secondary market, according to Reuters report.
SpaceX shares, which are marketed at about $72, jumped in valuation from last October, when the shares were sold at $56 apiece after a 10-1 split and valued the rocket company at $100 billion.
According to sources, no new shares have been issued in the secondary offering, but the company indicated to investors that they may do so later this year.
The share sale could value SpaceX at over $125 billion, surpassing fintech giant Stripe, which was valued at $115 billion in a secondary sale. It could not be learned how many shares have been made available for sale by the company.
It is important to note that it is common for highly valued private companies to offer shares in the secondary market to introduce liquidity for early investors and employees.
It is yet to be ascertained if Chief Executive Elon Musk, who owns 44% of the SpaceX and signed a $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter Inc, are among the sellers. Musk is also the chief executive of Tesla Inc.
According to regulatory filings, in the capital-intensive business, SpaceX has raised $337.4 million in December and $1.16 billion in equity financing last April.
Meanwhile, the company competes with former Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos's space venture Blue Origin and billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic in the burgeoning constellation of commercial rocket ventures. SpaceX has already launched numerous cargo payloads and astronauts to the International Space Station for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), including 19 rocket launches this year alone.
(With inputs from agencies)
