Billionaire venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya believes that Elon Musk’s SpaceX will never take the IPO route, despite reports that the firm is gearing up for a public listing this year.
In a new episode of the All-In Podcast, Palihapitiya says he’s going against the grain, predicting that SpaceX will not go public through a traditional IPO.
Instead, Palihapitiya believes Elon Musk could take a far more unconventional route.
“My contrarian belief number one is I don’t think SpaceX will IPO. I think that it will reverse merge into Tesla. I think Elon will use it as a moment to consolidate control and power of his two seminal assets into one cap table.”
A reverse merger happens when a private company takes over a public firm, so it could be traded on a stock exchange. A reverse merger between Musk’s two firms would instantly make SpaceX part of a publicly traded company without going through the IPO process, roadshows or new shareholder dilution.
Palihapitiya suggests a reverse merger would allow Musk to unify ownership, governance and long-term strategy across both companies.
“There will be no IPO for SpaceX. I think it specifically will be a reverse merger.”
In early January, reports surfaced that SpaceX executives are telling investors that a public listing is on the table in the coming months. The firm was reportedly gearing up for a big secondary share sale that would value SpaceX at around $800 billion.
Last month, Musk floated the idea of a lunar base with a mass driver that would enable SpaceX to launch solar-powered AI satellites without rockets. He also said in November that Tesla will ship more AI chips than Nvidia, AMD and others combined.
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