SpaceX plans to cement founder Elon Musk’s control after its IPO, granting him and a small group of insiders super-voting shares that will outweigh other investors, according to excerpts of the company’s IPO filing reviewed by Reuters.
The prospectus, which was confidentially filed this month, provides fresh details of the company’s financials and corporate governance.
Upon completion of the offering, Musk will stay on as chief executive officer, chief technical officer, and will serve as chairman of SpaceX’s nine-member board of directors.
Though Musk was paid US$54,080 last year, according to the excerpts, he stands to gain billions in equity after the company’s stock market debut.
SpaceX is targeting a listing valuation of roughly US$1.75-trillion with a US$75-billion raise, which would make it the largest initial public offering in history.
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Musk bought US$1.4-billion in the company’s stock last year and stands to get another 60 million in shares if SpaceX’s market value reaches US$6.6-trillion and he is able to build data centers in space under a stock plan approved last month, the Information reported.
President and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell received US$85.8-million in total compensation last year, Reuters previously reported, while chief financial officer Bret Johnsen was paid US$9.8-million.
Analyst day
Some of the executives are driving Musk’s IPO ambitions with three days of meetings planned this week for Wall Street analysts, starting with a tour and briefings at SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Tex. The filing excerpts show SpaceX will use a dual-class equity structure that gives Class B shareholders 10 votes each, concentrating power with Musk and a handful of other insiders, while Class A shares sold to public investors will carry one vote each.
They also outline provisions that could limit shareholders’ ability to influence board elections or pursue certain legal claims, forcing disputes into arbitration instead and restricting where they can be brought.
While such structures are common among founder-led technology companies, they limit public shareholders’ ability to influence strategy or challenge management.
First look at financials
The filing gives investors the first look at SpaceX’s financial health, especially after Musk combined the rocket maker with his social media and AI company xAI this year.
The combined company ended 2025 with about US$24.8-billion in cash on hand, and had total assets of US$92-billion against total liabilities of US$50.8-billion.
Its satellite internet business Starlink generated billions in profit last year, helping to offset heavy losses inherited when it bought founder Musk’s social media and artificial intelligence company xAI this year, the excerpts show.
SpaceX swung to a US$4.94-billion consolidated loss in 2025 on revenue of US$18.67-billion as it invested heavily in xAI’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, from a US$791-million profit and US$14.02-billion in revenue the year before.
It lost US$4.63-billion on US$10.4-billion in revenue in 2023.
AI spending
Its losses stem from an almost fivefold increase in capital spending over two years to US$20.74-billion last year, more than half of that on AI spending.
The company’s successful Starlink satellite internet service is subsidizing much of that spending, generating US$4.42-billion in operating profit but accounting for less than a quarter of its total capital expenditures.
Capital expenditure at the AI segment surged to US$12.7-billion from US$5.6-billion the prior year, pushing SpaceX’s total capex above US$20.7-billion, more than double the prior year.
That remains a fraction of spending by the largest technology companies on AI infrastructure: Meta, with a comparable market capitalization of about US$1.7-trillion, had capital expenditure of US$72-billion in 2025.
The Information previously reported some aspects of the financials.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.