Elon Musk’s SpaceX valued at $24B, according to filing

Elon Musk’s SpaceX placed its valuation at nearly $24 billion this month in a filing related to its latest round of financing, according to a report Thursday.

The California-based rocket company disclosed that it had authorized another $500 million in financing from investors by selling 3 million shares at $169 apiece, Recode reported, citing information from Lagniappe Labs, which initially obtained the filing. That would place SpaceX’s valuation at $23.7 billion.

Fidelity, Google, and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund are among SpaceX’s leading backers, the report added. The valuation would establish SpaceX as the third-most-valuable private company in the U.S., behind only Airbnb and Uber.

Musk, 46, also founded electric car maker Tesla, as well as The Boring Company, which digs tunnels to facilitate Hyperloop mass-transit technology. Tesla has a valuation of about $55 billion, according to recent company filings, and shareholders recently approved a plan to compensate Musk with $2.6 billion in stock incentives if the company reaches certain financial targets.

SpaceX conducted a successful launch and retrieval of its “Falcon Heavy” rocket last February. Speaking at the South by Southwest tech conference in March, Musk said he is “optimistic” that SpaceX could launch its first flights to Mars by the first half of 2019. He warned, however, that the initial journeys would be perilous.

“For the early people that go to Mars, it will be far more dangerous,” Musk said. “It kind of reads like Shackleton’s ad for Antarctic explorers: difficult, dangerous, good chance you will die. Excitement for those who survive.”