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Speculation: SpaceX maintains control by selling less than 50% of Starlink. This is essentially just asking the public if they would like to invest in the Starl

Speculation: SpaceX maintains control by selling less than 50% of Starlink. This is essentially just asking the public if they would like to invest in the Starlink business with no change to operations.

repsilat 7y ago
I think so. Starlink is capital-intensive and untested as a business proposition. This keeps the risk walled off from SpaceX and lets them raise without diluting ownership of SpaceX. (It also means guaranteed profit for SpaceX from the pockets of new investors.) Not sure why they'd go public instead of raising the capital privately, though.
- martythemaniak 7y ago
  Well, they need to raise around $10B to get it fully operational, so that might be hard to do privately. Also, perhaps Musk thinks that having public retail investors is worth it. After all, even though they contribute approximately 0% to Tesla's funding, retail investors and owners generate approximately 100% of the hype, online content and general proselytizing. That is, someone will have to defend Starlink from accusations that it has ruined the sky, and Musk alone can't do it.
  - swampthinker 7y ago
    Retail investors contribute to Tesla's financing by offering interest free loans in the form of pre-order deposits.
    - the__prestige 7y ago
      Those are customers, not retail investors.
ortusdux 7y ago
A non-trivial portion of the hype around Tesla comes from shareholders. I've been hearing more and more people lament that they missed the boat now that the stock hit 700+. It seems like a genius idea to offer a new investment opportunity to the public. This should help generate hype for the Starlink network, which will live or die based upon its adoption rate.
xkjkls 7y ago
Starlink is SpaceX’s only real “business” given that the global rocket market is still incredibly small. It may be valuable to raise a bunch of capital for it individually

repsilat 7y ago

I think so. Starlink is capital-intensive and untested as a business proposition. This keeps the risk walled off from SpaceX and lets them raise without diluting ownership of SpaceX. (It also means guaranteed profit for SpaceX from the pockets of new investors.) Not sure why they'd go public instead of raising the capital privately, though.

martythemaniak 7y ago
Well, they need to raise around $10B to get it fully operational, so that might be hard to do privately. Also, perhaps Musk thinks that having public retail investors is worth it. After all, even though they contribute approximately 0% to Tesla's funding, retail investors and owners generate approximately 100% of the hype, online content and general proselytizing. That is, someone will have to defend Starlink from accusations that it has ruined the sky, and Musk alone can't do it.
- swampthinker 7y ago
  Retail investors contribute to Tesla's financing by offering interest free loans in the form of pre-order deposits.
  - the__prestige 7y ago
    Those are customers, not retail investors.

ortusdux 7y ago

A non-trivial portion of the hype around Tesla comes from shareholders. I've been hearing more and more people lament that they missed the boat now that the stock hit 700+. It seems like a genius idea to offer a new investment opportunity to the public. This should help generate hype for the Starlink network, which will live or die based upon its adoption rate.

xkjkls 7y ago

Starlink is SpaceX’s only real “business” given that the global rocket market is still incredibly small. It may be valuable to raise a bunch of capital for it individually