Musk Delays SpaceX Starlink IPO Again: "Not for Another 3-4 Years"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
[Image source=Reuters News Agency]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has indicated that SpaceX’s satellite internet service business, 'Starlink,' will not go public until at least 2025, CNBC reported on the 7th (local time).

CNBC obtained a recording file and reported that Musk said during a meeting with employees on the 2nd, "I am not exactly sure when we will have an initial public offering (IPO)," adding, "If I were to guess, it would probably be three or four years from now." Previously, Musk had revealed plans for an IPO, stating that spinning off the Starlink division as a publicly traded company "would make a lot of sense."

However, the IPO plan for Starlink continues to be postponed. In an email to SpaceX employees in 2019, Musk mentioned, "It would make sense to take Starlink public in about three years," but last year, he stepped back via Twitter, saying, "It will take a few years until Starlink’s revenue becomes reasonably predictable."

In particular, Musk reportedly expressed a negative view of the IPO during last week’s employee meeting. He warned, "You shouldn’t think of an IPO as a sure path to getting rich," adding, "The public market is fickle, and if we don’t meet expectations, they will shoot us down like with a pistol."

Starlink is a project to launch 12,000 low-earth orbit small satellites to build a high-speed internet service accessible worldwide. CNBC analyzed that, with 400,000 subscribers to the satellite internet service disclosed by SpaceX at the end of last month and a basic service price of $110 (about 138,000 KRW), Starlink’s annual revenue is estimated to exceed $500 million.

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