Elon Musk prepares SpaceX rocket firm for IPO Famous upstart startup firm SpaceX, soon to deploy the biggest rocket seen since the days of the Apollo programme, will shortly go public. However its founder, colourful nerdwealth geek-icon biz kingpin Elon Musk, seems likely to retain a controlling interest. Hints had emerged previously that Musk might seek further funding …
I might not make the most return on my investment, but this is the place I will definitely sink all of my meagre savings. This kind of vision is lacking in so much of the business *and* technical worlds. I wish more people would think beyond the next annual report - and that includes many of the people running science organisations.
A well-visioned leader in a small company like this can structure an IPO to still retain enough control to emphasize his vision. Also, I think the people inclined to invest in SpaceX are going to be people who share his vision, to most others it's going be we viewed as mostly wishful thinking.
If they issue shares with a warrant attached for cargo launch (say 1 kg for each 100 shares), they will attract investors who have cargo they want to send to orbit. Those investors will be more interested in keeping costs down than maximizing cash dividends.
It's all in how the offering is structured. If you only offer shares with a monetary reward, that's the kind of vultures (pardon Register staff) you will attract. If you offer shares with more useful rewards, like launch space, you will get investors who are more like customers and partners who have different incentives.
And because Elon Musk is afraid of that too, he's keeping a majority share in the company. If the shareholders disagree, his vote alone will push whatever he wants to do through any ways.
As for it being premature, we should have started with serious space exploration well over 2 decades ago, when we had the technology to put a nuclear reactor in orbit and use a NERVA to get to and from Mars in a month or two.
Which either means they have strong commitment to a visionary leader (good for potential start-ups approaching them but their competitors reckon they are saps) or they are weasel faced late comers who got in when success was virtually assured, which is the kind of move that gets them plenty of respect from other VC's.
Time will tell if they get bought (It's an IPO. Who buys the shares determines who the new presumably *minor* stockholders will be).
BTW Boeing is *relatively* fair as a competitor, possibly because they still make stuff for a *commercial* market. In contrast LockMart are pure government con-tractors. their playing of NASA in the X33 programme reminded me of the restaurant owner in Goodfellas who feels he *has* to take on an organised crime family as his "partner."Their "remarkable" ability to win contests despite "mishaps" (like *loosing* 70 million dollars in the *evaluation* stage of the JSF project)
I wish Spacex every success on this but hope Elon retains *significant* control.
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