Trump Makes Musk Richer Again: SpaceX and xAI Now Valued at Nearly $300 Billion Combined
1min read Elon Musk's private companies, SpaceX and xAI, are set to see significant increases in valuation through new deals, as he successfully bet on Trump's win. The two unicorns' combined valuation is near $300 billion, according to FT.
SpaceX, the largest private company in the US, is preparing a tender offer in December to sell existing shares at approximately $135 each. This would value the rocket builder at over $250 billion, up from about $210 billion earlier this year, based on the report.
Meanwhile, Musk's AI start-up xAI has raised $5 billion at a valuation of $45 billion, nearly doubling its value from a few months ago. The fundraising was completed rapidly, with discussions between Musk and investors starting just last month.
This dual fundraising effort comes as Musk shifts his focus from Silicon Valley to Washington DC. Musk played a significant role in the recent US election, helping to deliver the victory to Donald Trump and becoming a key advisor to the president-elect.
Trump also appointed Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday to lead a new "department of government efficiency," aiming to provide external advice to the government and seek ways to reduce bureaucracy.
Musk's close relationship with Trump has also positively impacted Tesla's stock price, which has risen by nearly 30% since the November 5 election.
The xAI fundraising deal has been fully allocated, with all new shares assigned to investors. The deal, which will formally close at the end of the month, was oversubscribed and included only previous backers of the start-up. The strong interest in xAI, which operates a ChatGPT rival named Grok, has bolstered Musk's efforts to compete with companies like OpenAI and Anthropic.
There is already speculation about another fundraising round for xAI in the first quarter of next year, potentially valuing the company at up to $75 billion. However, it is unclear if this has been communicated directly to investors.
xAI is developing a massive cluster of 100,000 graphics processing units in Memphis, known as Colossus, which would be one of the world's largest supercomputers. These AI systems are expected to play a crucial role across Musk's various enterprises, including X, Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink.
SpaceX is also likely to benefit from Musk's proximity to Trump. In addition to its mission to Mars, SpaceX aims to expand its network of 6,000 low Earth orbit satellites for the Starlink broadband service. Musk has frequently clashed with US regulators, whom he believes have hindered Tesla and SpaceX.