SpaceX is the most valuable space company in the world—and it might offer Elon Musk the key to unlocking his empire.

It's hard to feel pity for the world's second-richest person. Musk is estimated to be worth about $180 billion, the combined value of his stakes in Tesla (ticker: TSLA), SpaceX, Neuralink, the Boring Co., and Twitter, among other investments. The problem, though, is that all but Tesla are privately held, and therefore illiquid. When Musk needs money, his only option is to sell Tesla stock. That was the case from April to December 2022, when Musk was forced to sell some $23 billion in Tesla shares to keep Twitter afloat, one of the reasons the stock tumbled more than 50% during that period… Read Full Article

It’s the biggest venture capital profit haul that no one wants to talk about.

ByteDance – the Chinese parent company of social media app TikTok – is the world’s most valuable startup. Even at a valuation of $220 billion, down from a peak of $500 billion in the secondary market in 2021, it’s not even close. (SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, slots in second at $140 billion.)

For its investors, some of whom backed the company when it was still valued in the millions, an eventual ByteDance public offering would mean billions, and even tens of billions of dollars, in profits, instantly vaulting their investments into the ranks of the top VC bets of all time… Read Full Article

The brief flight of Starship, the world’s largest rocket, was fueled by methane and liquid oxygen, but the ultimate propellant for SpaceX’s ambitious new projects is money. That’s why it’s surprising that CEO Elon Musk said his company wouldn’t raise more capital, despite plans to spend about $2 billion improving the vehicle’s Raptor engines this year.

Musk’s comment during an April 29 Twitter conversation comes as the secondary market in SpaceX shares is weakening for the first time, according to Greg Martin, a managing director at Rainmaker Securities, a boutique investment bank that specializes in private companies. After ByteDance, the company that created TikTok, SpaceX is considered the most valuable venture-backed company.. Read Full Article

Elon Musk's SpaceX is an impressive company, and an incredible story–maybe as impressive as Tesla.

And many investors would like a chance to own some SpaceX stock. Even though the company is privately held that is still possible. Interested investors might want to wait, though, as pricing could come down.

There are platforms for insiders and employees to trade shares of privately held companies. Glen Anderson runs one called Rainmaker Securities. "SpaceX, it's a name we've done a lot of trading in over the years," he says in an interview… Read Full Article

The Less Sophisticated and Less Efficient Private Equity Secondary Market Presents an Interesting Opportunity for Equity Traders  

If history is an indicator, the best investments are made in the periods of market lows and economic pressure. This is particularly true with equities, where buying shares in high-value companies when valuations are lowest provides opportunity for maximum potential returns.  

Take for instance the financial crisis of 2008. At the bottom of the market, the investors who took large equity stakes in quality public companies at low entry points achieved outsized returns when the market recovered…  Read Full Article

The global market for initial public offerings is showing signs of life as a rebound in the stock market has emboldened companies to test investor appetite for new listings, particularly in Asia. But a full-fledged recovery looks distant.

Roughly $25 billion worth of IPOs priced globally in March and April, nearly twice the amount seen in the first two months of the year when listings virtually ground to a halt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg… Read Full Article

For more than a year, investors have had little appetite for Instacart’s stock, available on the private market for tech shares. Now investors who may be hunting for bargains are starting to clamor for a piece of the grocery-delivery startup ahead of an expected initial public offering.

Over the past couple of months, investors who buy private company stock have increasingly looked to scoop up Instacart shares, Instacart shareholders and brokers who facilitate trades told The Information… Read Full Article

Venture capitalists and startup founders alike went into 2023 eagerly hoping for the return of the industry’s exit environment — specifically, the resurgence of IPOs.

After 2021, a record-breaking year for IPOs, everything screeched to a halt in 2022. PitchBook counted 296 venture-backed companies that went public in 2021, which doubles — or more — any other year prior. This plummeted to 28 in 2022, the lowest number recorded since 2009, amid the financial crisis… Read Full Article

At least eight businesses that went public through mergers with “blank-check” companies have sought protection from creditors.

It took only 10 months for Quanergy Systems Inc., a maker of high-tech sensors and software, to go from its stock market debut to filing for bankruptcy. Fast Radius Inc., a 3D-printing company, made it nine months. Online retail startup Enjoy Technology Inc. lasted eight-and-a-half months before it filed… Read Full Article

The blank-check frenzy that raised more than $245 billion over a two-year stretch has dried up, with just a handful of sponsors pooling investor money in 2023. 

“The SPAC party is over,” says Greg Martin, co-founder of Rainmaker Securities, which facilitates secondary transactions for private companies… Read Full Article 

Watch Video

"In 2021, over 1,000 IPOs were SPACs and the SPAC market was dead in 2022. There was a weakened stock market, aggressive interest rate hikes, inflation, fear of a recession, rising geopolitical tensions, and poor post-IPO performance. SPACs were somewhat of a Ponzi scheme to begin with, but they are likely to return when IPOs return. Tech IPOs to watch are Stripe, Databricks, Instacart, and ByteDance (TikTok)," says Greg Martin.

There was a surge of initial public offerings on the London Stock Exchange and AIM in 2021, with 123 companies going public. However, this flood became more of a drought last year, as adverse macro conditions and a sense of investor fatigue all but closed IPO markets in the UK and globally, according to KPMG’s head of UK capital Svetlana Marriot.

Historically, the IPO market has tended to hit the buffers following financial crises, data in the NSCI Indices annual review shows… Read Full Article

… Read Full Article

Investors seemed to have never lost faith in rocket launch and satellite internet provider SpaceX amid an otherwise tumultuous 2022 for Elon Musk and his other major assets.  

Musk's Tesla lost 65% of market capitalization last year, and his ability to extract economic value from his acquisition of Twitter was doubted by many observers… Read Full Article

Watch Video

Greg Martin, Co-founder of Rainmaker Securities, joined Closing Bell's Kristen Scholer to break down Tesla's dismal start to 2023, as investor concerns about the EV maker were compounded by a miss on delivery estimates in the fourth quarter, and a miss on its 2022 delivery growth target.

Wave of selling from laid-off Silicon Valley workers exacerbates price declines

As market values of technology startups have collapsed this year amid a venture capital drought, the declines have been exacerbated by laid-off Silicon Valley workers selling stakes in their former firms.

Tech start-ups reliant on venture capital and wealthy tech investors have had to recalibrate growth plans as that funding has plunged, the Financial Times reported earlier this year. In addition to finding other sources of financing, many startups have begun laying off workers as they try to conserve cash… Read Full Article

… Read Full Article

Even as demand for private company stock has cratered pretty much across the board this year, there's at least one exception: SpaceX.

The big picture: "Pretty much every company we trade is down versus the end of 2021," Glen Anderson, co-founder of Rainmaker Securities, told Axios. "SpaceX is an exception," Anderson said… Read Full Article

The wave of tech layoffs this year is adding to shockwaves in the private markets, as many workers look to sell their company stock just as valuations are collapsing.

Why it matters: Say goodbye to the golden age of employee stock options. This is part of a big unraveling happening for tech workers, many living through their first downturn and experiencing unfamiliar job woes like layoffs, hiring freezes, and the diminishing value of their stock compensation… Read Full Article

Watch Video

Greg Martin, co-founder at Rainmaker Securities, joined Closing Bell’s Kristen Scholer to discuss Elon Musk’s tall task of balancing his Twitter ownership with pressing matters at Tesla, as the stock has crumbled almost 60% in 2022 alone.