New SpaceX tender offer reportedly raises company's valuation to $140 billion

SpaceX has already had an astronomical year. And now, the private space company is offering to sell insider shares at a price that would raise its valuation to roughly $140 billion.

SpaceX, run by the world's richest person, Elon Musk, is offering a price of $77 per share, according to anonymous insiders interviewed by Bloomberg. If the report on that new valuation is true, it will raise SpaceX's standing by $13 billion over its $127 billion valuation in July.

SpaceX's new $140 billion valuation

SpaceX reportedly held conversations for a range of prices but ultimately settled on $140 billion in a tender offer, according to Bloomberg's sources, who wished to remain anonymous as the information has not been made public.

One thing that remains unclear, however, is whether SpaceX will look to raise capital in a primary funding round at the new valuation.

SpaceX seems to be remaining tightlipped about those insider shares and the new valuation. The company is gearing up for the orbital maiden flight of its fully reusable Starship rocket, which is set to revolutionize spaceflight by drastically cutting the cost of successive launches.

I continue to oversee both Tesla & SpaceX, but the teams there are so good that often little is needed from me

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 8, 2022

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted that he does "continue to oversee both Tesla and SpaceX" despite concerns that his recent acquisition of Twitter has altered his focus. He did add, however, that the teams for both companies are "so good that often little is needed from me." Musk is the world's richest man, with a net worth of roughly $168 billion.

A strong year for SpaceX

The private space company has had an impressive, record-breaking year so far. It has successfully completed more rocket launches than any organization this year. On October 20, SpaceX carried out the 48th launch of Falcon 9 this year, breaking its own record for Falcon 9 launches in one year. The firm extends that record with every successive launch. In June, it launched and landed three Falcon 9 rockets in the space of 36 hours.

SpaceX also launched its Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time in three years in November, and it has provided coverage over war-torn Ukraine this year with its Starlink internet service. Starlink is responsible for the majority of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launches this year, as the company is lifting thousands of satellites into orbit.

According to Bloomberg, Musk has previously stated that Starlink could eventually be spun off in a public listing and that the service required up to $30 billion in investments to maintain its competitive position.

While SpaceX won't launch Starship to orbit this year, it may be on course to carry out the orbital test flight of its massive rocket in the first quarter of 2023. If it does, it will take back the record for the world's most powerful rocket from NASA, which overtook SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket with the launch of its Space Launch System (SLS) in November.