SpaceX’s IPO filing reveals unexpected details

(SeaPRwire) –   SpaceX’s IPO prospectus is a veritable goldmine.

In some ways, this comes as no surprise: Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest individual, and his companies have long been polarizing, high-profile targets. But SpaceX has always uniquely captured people’s curiosity. Founded in 2002, the firm has spent decades overhauling the once inaccessible space industry. And its headlines have always been striking: Reusable rockets! Mars colonies! Starlink across the globe!

But it’s important to remember that SpaceX itself is a hybrid, pieced-together company: While rockets take center stage, SpaceX also includes its sprawling Starlink business, the platform once known as Twitter, Musk’s AI arm xAI, and potentially even the top AI coding unicorn Cursor down the line.

Here are the details that stood out most during my first pass through this public listing filing.

Kardashev Type II civilization… This S-1 filing includes an incredibly memorable glossary of terms. Take, for example: Kardashev Type II, which “describes a civilization that captures the total energy output of its home star, such as our Sun, to fuel unprecedented growth and maintain the civilization’s survival.” Or “lunar mass driver,” defined as “a launch system we plan to construct on the lunar surface that uses electromagnetic propulsion to send payloads to space without relying on rockets.” I’m not immune to excitement, and that is pretty awesome.

Twitter isn’t exactly thriving… My bad, X. The social media platform that Musk purchased in a high-profile 2022 deal for $44 billion saw its advertising revenue drop by $595 million, with its 2024 overall revenue falling 11.5%. The filing explicitly states: “The decline in advertising revenue was caused by the loss of advertising partners for X.” That said, there was a bright spot: subscription revenue rose by $157 million.

Cursor update… SpaceX’s planned $60 billion purchase of struggling AI coding leader Cursor is not a sure thing, but it clearly serves as a key part of how SpaceX is positioning itself to public investors regarding its role in the AI space. We also got an early look at Cursor’s finances: at the end of its fiscal year, it held $3.1 billion in total assets—$2.7 billion in cash and roughly $550 million in debts. If the deal falls through, Cursor would be entitled to a $1.5 billion termination fee.

Elon Musk still calls the shots… Musk currently holds 85% of the voting power via Class B shares, and will keep his tight hold on the company after it goes public. Here is the exact wording, for anyone who wants the full details: “Mr. Musk will have the authority to decide the outcome of any matter that needs shareholder approval, including the election of all of our board members.” Put plainly: Elon is in control. Other publicly traded “controlled” companies exist, such as Meta.

Financial details… There is truly a lot to unpack here. A few quick facts to consider: Starlink is propping up the company’s finances. Anthropic is reportedly paying SpaceX a massive $15 billion annually. (This is a bit of an ironic twist: Musk once labeled Anthropic “evil.”) Additionally, Musk’s compensation package is linked not just to the company’s stock price, but also to the creation of a Mars colony with at least one million residents.

If recent reports hold true, this will easily be the largest initial public offering in history. The valuation math is extremely bold: we’re looking at a projected valuation of up to $2 trillion for a cash-intensive business that brought in roughly $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025. That is a hard pitch to make, in my view. But it’s possible—even probable—that the warning signs won’t deter investors, and demand will skyrocket. So, buyer beware.

Let’s all get ready for launch.

Until tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@.com

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