SpaceX owner Elon Musk is denying a report that a spin-off of his company’s Starlink satellite business is in the works.
What Happened: Musk responded to a Bloomberg report that a Starlink initial public offering (IPO) for 2024 was being discussed with a trite “false”.
The report said discussions about a “late 2024” IPO were underway, citing “people with knowledge of the matter” as sources, with the company preparing for the transition to a standalone public company by moving Starlink’s assets into a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Speculation has persisted since the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO suggested in September 2020 that a Starlink spin-off could be possible once SpaceX maintains stable profit growth and cash-flow predictability.
“We will probably IPO Starlink, but only several years in the future when revenue growth is smooth and predictable. Public market does not like erratic cash flow,” he said at the time.
Although, as a private company, SpaceX isn’t compelled to submit financial details publicly, it was reported in the media back in August that it had turned a small profit in the first quarter of this year following annual losses in 2021 and 2022.
Revenues are not necessarily consistent with profitability, but it’s also been reported that SpaceX is likely to report sales of around $9B this year, and closer to $15B in 2024.
Thanks to strong revenues from Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, the subsidiary could overtake its parent’s rocket launch business in terms of sales in the coming quarters.
This would further fuel speculation that Starlink is ripe for listing on the public markets.
Elon says no, but will it be yes?
Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he owns that was formerly known as Twitter, that the Bloomberg report suggesting IPO discussions were underway was “false”.
Offering no more detail than this, Musk’s denial will do little to cool speculation that a 2024 IPO could still happen given fair winds and a calm sea. And he promised it won’t only be the big institutional investors that get a slice.
“I’m a huge fan of small retail investors. Will make sure they get top priority. You can hold me to it,” he said in at Twitter post in 2020.
