New York — Elon Musk on Wednesday announced plans for one of the largest public stock sales ever for a space company that currently loses billions of dollars annually.
Documents filed Wednesday show that Musk’s SpaceX company lost $2.6 billion from operations last year on $18.7 billion in revenue, and losses continued to pile up at the beginning of this year as well.
However, the IPO is expected to be among the largest ever, perhaps surpassing the current holder, Saudi Aramco, the oil giant that went public seven years ago.
The prospectus did not specify a dollar figure for how much Musk hopes to raise, but various reports have put it at $75 billion or so. The company said the money will help fund projects to send humans to the moon and perhaps one day to Mars as it seeks to make humans intergalactic creatures as it faces existential threats that could wipe out civilization.
“We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs,” the recording said.
The IPO could also make Musk, the primary owner of SpaceX shares, the The world’s first trillionaire.
It would also give Musk significant control over the business.
The document says Musk and some other shareholders will receive shares in a special class of stock that gives them 10 votes for each share they own. These shareholders will be able, among other things, to elect a majority of the company’s board of directors.
“This will limit or prevent your ability to influence the affairs of the company and elect our directors,” SpaceX said in a warning to potential investors.