SpaceX Shoots to $125 Billion Valuation, Shrugging Off Elon Musk’s Woes

In addition, SpaceX is offering to buy shares from existing stockholders, giving current and former staff a chance to cash out.

A SpaceX spokesman didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The fresh cash comes as Mr. Musk faces a new bout of controversy. Last week, Insider reported that SpaceX in 2018 paid an unidentified flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual-misconduct claim against Mr. Musk, the company’s chief executive. Mr. Musk responded on Twitter, calling the accusations “utterly untrue.”

SpaceX President

Gwynne Shotwell

told company staff in a subsequent email that she personally believed that allegations made against Mr. Musk were false. Neither she nor Mr. Musk, who also leads

Tesla Inc.

and has agreed to buy

Twitter Inc.,

addressed whether a settlement was paid. Ms. Shotwell said in the email that SpaceX doesn’t tolerate harassment of any kind.

CNBC earlier reported on the latest funding efforts and the email from Ms. Shotwell.

The company’s capital-intensive efforts include Starship, the rocket system that Mr. Musk has said he wants to use for deep-space missions he envisions and for the company’s Starlink satellite-internet service.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, has been building out infrastructure for Starship at a site near the southern tip of Texas, and testing and manufacturing engines and other hardware for the vehicles. SpaceX wants to begin conducting orbital demonstration flights of Starship from the property, a proposal the Federal Aviation Administration is currently reviewing. In February, Mr. Musk said that SpaceX could also end up testing Starship from Florida.

Mr. Musk has described the development of the rocket system, which is meant to be fully reusable, as difficult and pointed to what he said were cost savings the company achieved on the engines that would undergird it.

SpaceX is also spending on Starlink, its unit that uses a fleet of satellites to power a broadband internet service.

The company said earlier this year that it now is capable of building up to 45 satellites per week, and has sought permission to send up tens of thousands of additional satellites. As of May, it had launched more than 2,400 of them, according to a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission. The company also makes the terminals that allow users to obtain Starlink internet connections.

Mr. Musk said last year that SpaceX was likely to invest at least $5 billion and perhaps as much as $10 billion in Starlink, with ongoing investments after that.

As with other companies, SpaceX’s costs have climbed. The company recently boosted the price of user kits for Starlink and raised the monthly charge for the service to $110 from $99. SpaceX also increased prices for launches on its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

Mr. Musk has said on Twitter that SpaceX and electric-vehicle maker Tesla are dealing with significant cost pressures related to raw materials and logistics.

SpaceX has also looked to keep adding staff, even as other companies take a more cautious approach on hiring, given current market conditions and investor views.

The company as of Monday evening listed more than 850 job openings on its website, ranging from software engineers to welders.

SpaceX has conducted several significant equity sales in recent years. The company sold almost $1.9 billion in equity in 2021, for example, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at [email protected] and Rob Copeland at [email protected]