Elon Musk has apparently nixed the possibility that SpaceX will spin off its Starlink satellite internet company next year.
Bloomberg reported this week that Starlink could be spun off via IPO as soon as late 2024. But on Wednesday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk denied this, replying “false” in response to a tweet of the report.
IPO spinoff talk has been swirling around Starlink recently. Last week billionaire investor Ron Baron — the founder, chief executive and portfolio manager at Baron Capital — told CNBC that he expects a Starlink IPO could happen around 2027, with SpaceX worth around $250 billion to $300 billion by that time.
Related: IPO spinoff talk swirls around SpaceX’s Starlink
SpaceX has not yet responded to a request for comment on possible Starlink IPO plans.
Tim Farrar, president of TMF Associates, a consulting and research firm in satellite communications, told MarketWatch that a Starlink IPO could come “sooner rather than later.”
“I would be surprised if it’s as late as 2027,” he said, noting that it’s too soon to tell whether it could come as early as 2025. “It will depend on their performance in the coming months,” Farrar added.
Related: Elon Musk to provide Starlink internet connectivity to aid organizations in Gaza
Starlink reported $1.4 billion in revenue for 2022, up from $222 million a year earlier, according to the Wall Street Journal in September, citing recent documents that it had reviewed. At that time, SpaceX had a valuation of roughly $150 billion, the report said.
Earlier this month, Musk tweeted that Starlink has achieved breakeven cash flow, noting that it also accounts for a majority of all active satellites. Musk added that Starlink will have launched a majority of all satellites cumulatively from Earth by next year.
Investment bank Rainmaker Securities gives the private space company a valuation of $163.6 billion, based on the average share price of of SpaceX trades on Rainmaker’s platform in 2023 and the amount of shares outstanding.
