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That impression is incorrect. SpaceX raised ~$2B in August and ~$1B in February [1]. The company is very cashflow negative (operationally), as growing companies

That impression is incorrect. SpaceX raised ~$2B in August and ~$1B in February [1]. The company is very cashflow negative (operationally), as growing companies typically are. [1] https://spacenews.com/spacex-adds-to-latest-funding-round/ https://spacenews.com/spacex-adds-to-latest-funding-round/

jiofih 5y ago
They are also funding StarLink + the moon landing program. Better to pile cheap money up while investors are knocking at their doors.
walrus01 5y ago
Reportedly they turned down many more investors than they accepted in the recent funding round, because they wanted a great proportion of the shares available vs. the funds that were offered. They could have raised way more than $2B + $1B if they'd been willing to go for further dilution. Musk has been quite open about how starlink will need to go through a deep trough of low revenues and high expenses, before it can become self sustaining from the monthly subscription revenue of millions of customers.
KptMarchewa 5y ago
Right now Elon can bankroll SpaceX for decades without even noticing losses, just like Bezos with Blue Origin. The difference is that SpaceX has results and revenue.
- Teever 5y ago
  Does Elon musk actually have enough liquid assets to do this? I was under the impression that most of his personal wealth was in the form of Tesla stock.
  - dillondoyle 5y ago
    He gets loans using stock as collateral. billionaires have entirely different resources than the rest of us. AFAIK he has slightly >50% of his Tesla stock pledged as collateral for loans right now. At tiny interest rates (wouldn't be surprised if he gets even better private bank rates because they want in on his other business or IPO etc). it's basically free money - until something goes wrong... especially in the crazy dynamic we seem to be in now where fast stock growth = more access to free money = faster stock growth cycle. until pop
    - rblatz 5y ago
      In a correction he is facing a nasty margin call.
      - dillondoyle 5y ago
        Which would in turn probably hurt (?crash) the stock. It's a game of chicken. GME again! From an outside who only reads the free bloomberg it feels like there's a lot of this going on right now just boosting everything especially with basically free money; the recent Archegos blow up as an example of the down side
    - KptMarchewa 5y ago
      I've heard about 50% stock as collateral when Tesla was 20% of its current value. It does not make sense now - that would mean he took ~90 billion dollars of loans.
greedo 5y ago
Do you have any links that confirm SpaceX is cashflow negative?
- tedsanders 5y ago
  "SpaceX needs to pass through a deep chasm of negative cash flow over the next year or so to make Starlink financially viable. Every new satellite constellation in history has gone bankrupt. We hope to be the first that does not." -Elon Musk in February https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1359024384200101888?s=21 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1359024384200101888?s=21

jiofih 5y ago

They are also funding StarLink + the moon landing program. Better to pile cheap money up while investors are knocking at their doors.

walrus01 5y ago

Reportedly they turned down many more investors than they accepted in the recent funding round, because they wanted a great proportion of the shares available vs. the funds that were offered. They could have raised way more than $2B + $1B if they'd been willing to go for further dilution. Musk has been quite open about how starlink will need to go through a deep trough of low revenues and high expenses, before it can become self sustaining from the monthly subscription revenue of millions of customers.

KptMarchewa 5y ago

Right now Elon can bankroll SpaceX for decades without even noticing losses, just like Bezos with Blue Origin. The difference is that SpaceX has results and revenue.

Teever 5y ago
Does Elon musk actually have enough liquid assets to do this? I was under the impression that most of his personal wealth was in the form of Tesla stock.
- dillondoyle 5y ago
  He gets loans using stock as collateral. billionaires have entirely different resources than the rest of us. AFAIK he has slightly >50% of his Tesla stock pledged as collateral for loans right now. At tiny interest rates (wouldn't be surprised if he gets even better private bank rates because they want in on his other business or IPO etc). it's basically free money - until something goes wrong... especially in the crazy dynamic we seem to be in now where fast stock growth = more access to free money = faster stock growth cycle. until pop
  - rblatz 5y ago
    In a correction he is facing a nasty margin call.
    - dillondoyle 5y ago
      Which would in turn probably hurt (?crash) the stock. It's a game of chicken. GME again! From an outside who only reads the free bloomberg it feels like there's a lot of this going on right now just boosting everything especially with basically free money; the recent Archegos blow up as an example of the down side
  - KptMarchewa 5y ago
    I've heard about 50% stock as collateral when Tesla was 20% of its current value. It does not make sense now - that would mean he took ~90 billion dollars of loans.

greedo 5y ago

Do you have any links that confirm SpaceX is cashflow negative?

tedsanders 5y ago
"SpaceX needs to pass through a deep chasm of negative cash flow over the next year or so to make Starlink financially viable. Every new satellite constellation in history has gone bankrupt. We hope to be the first that does not." -Elon Musk in February https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1359024384200101888?s=21 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1359024384200101888?s=21