Excellent news, even if the round is peculiarly undersized. First time I've seen them be so coy with the identity of the investor, too.
Based on most of the big funding rounds happening these days, I just assumed it was SoftBank.
SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
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Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
#22> Mr. Musk faces competition from another billionaire. Blue Origin, a rocket company founded by Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, aims to send tourists and supplies into space. Is that line even close to true? Last I heard Blue Origin was years away from revenue and far behind SpaceX in terms of capability and manufacturing.
I'm a big fan of both companies, but having watched them grow I think the answer to whether or not it is true that Blue Origin is a competitor is, "No, yes, maybe?"
If SpaceX can get Falcon Heavy to work then no, so much of the oxygen will be sucked out of the launch services market that Blue Origin will be hard pressed to compete. At that point. I see them much more likely as a ULA acquisition to insure engine supply rather than a continual drain on Jeff Bezo's net worth.
If on the other hand Falcon Heavy continues to slip, or if their early attempts at launching them are unsuccessful, or they are unable to recover the three boosters (which I think is 'baked in' to the market expectations) then Blue seems to be in a position to take some of the heavy launch business, except that there isn't nearly as much of that business as there is the small/medium launch business.
Finally the dark horse here is the 'previously unexploited used for heavy things in space' which is to say some business or process that is tremendously more competitive in space than it is on Earth which grows the heavy launch business faster than SpaceX can scale up.
Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
#23In what world is SpaceX valued at $20B while Uber is valued at $69B?
A world where valuation is roughly proportional to the number of rounds of investment you went through.
If you already have a solid path to profitability, you don't need to court investors as often as a hemorrhaging company does.
Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
#24Is a private company's value akin to a public one's market capitalization? How is this determined?
Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
#25> Mr. Musk faces competition from another billionaire. Blue Origin, a rocket company founded by Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon, aims to send tourists and supplies into space. Is that line even close to true? Last I heard Blue Origin was years away from revenue and far behind SpaceX in terms of capability and manufacturing.
I'm a big fan of both companies, but having watched them grow I think the answer to whether or not it is true that Blue Origin is a competitor is, "No, yes, maybe?" If SpaceX can get Falcon Heavy to work then no, so much of the oxygen will be sucked out of the launch services market that Blue Origin will be hard pressed to compete. At that point. I see them much more likely as a ULA acquisition to insure engine suppl…
Musk recently said, while discussing Falcon Heavy difficulties, that he'll be happy if Falcon Heavy clears the tower before exploding[1]. I personally believe orbital tourism will be the next big thing (dark horse as you say).
Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
#26Is a private company's value akin to a public one's market capitalization? How is this determined?
In the sense that it is a number that is taken to represent how much money someone would have to spend to buy it, but is only loosely correlated to the amount of money you would have to spend if you actually tried to buy it, yes.
Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
#27Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
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#29Re: SpaceX Is Now One of the World’s Most Valuable Privately Held Companies
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being publicly traded means you become slave to shareholders. Their profit is ALL that matters.
Well, yes. That's the entire point of a corporation.
You can be incorporated without going public. The ability to raise needed capital is a great thing, but it also comes with a lot of negative aspects as a result.