Elon Musk’s personal wealth is set to soar again by as much as $6bn (£4.7bn) thanks to a new investment round that could reportedly value his company SpaceX at $44bn.
The colourful tech mogul, whose net worth has already more than tripled since the start of this year, is in talks with investors to raise about $1bn at a price of $270 per share, according to Bloomberg News.
If completed on those terms, such a deal would propel the value of Mr Musk’s stake from $18bn to just under $24bn – despite the fact that SpaceX is not predicted to generate a positive free cash flow until 2033.
It comes after bumper financial results for Mr Musk’s other company, Tesla, which drove its stock price to new heights by reporting a fourth consecutive quarterly profit despite the coronavirus pandemic.
The electric car maker has enjoyed a record-breaking bull streak this year, launching Mr Musk towards the top of the rich list as it increased his net worth from about $22bn in January to $71bn today.
Meanwhile, Mr Musk’s rockets and capsules have become a lifeline to the International Space Station, delivering regular cargo shipments making history in May by becoming the first commercially-designed craft to put human astronauts in orbit.
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, two American astronauts, made their third trip into orbit aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule, which was also the first time that US crew had launched from US soil since 2011.
The end of the Space Shuttle programme has left Nasa, the US space agency, dependent on buying seats in Russia’s venerable Soyuz spacecraft, which has been operating in some form since 1967.
SpaceX’s close relationship with Nasa bodes well for Mr Musk’s dream of commercially-driven space colonisation, which is his company’s ultimate goal. It also bodes well for SpaceX’s investors, which include Google, Fidelity, and Mr Musk’s erstwhile colleague at Paypal, Peter Thiel.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
