(Jan 28): Elon Musk has suggested timing a possible initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX to coincide with a planetary phenomenon and his birthday in June, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
The owner of the rocket maker is considering timing the offering to coincide with when Jupiter and Venus appear very close together, the FT reported, citing five people familiar with the matter. That suggests a date in the middle of June, the same month the billionaire turns 55.
The logic behind such a choice would be surreal for most companies, but Musk has a long-held record of leaning into symbolism, and jokes with even the most serious business decisions. To be clear, the timing of IPOs is typically driven by investor appetite, market conditions and company readiness.
The owner of Telsa tweeted about taking Tesla private at US$420 ($529.76) a share, widely interpreted as a reference to April 20, a day of celebration for cannabis smokers. Musk’s decision to rename Twitter to X is also seen as a nod to his early payments start-up X.com, a name that was lost when it merged with PayPal.
SpaceX is looking to raise as much as US$50 billion in the offering at a valuation of about US$1.5 trillion, the FT reported, which would make it the largest IPO in history. SpaceX did not respond to the FT’s request for comments.
SpaceX also didn’t immediately reply to Bloomberg’s request for comments.
See also: Singapore CEO who maxed out 65 credit cards spurs US$1 bil IPO windfall
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