SpaceX to Adopt Dual-Class Stock Structure After IPO to Ensure Musk's Control
Excerpts from SpaceX's IPO filing reveal the company plans to consolidate founder Elon Musk's control after the IPO by granting him and a select few insiders super-voting shares with significantly more weight than other investors. The prospectus, secretly submitted this month, provides the latest details on SpaceX's finances and corporate governance.
After the listing, Musk will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chairman of SpaceX's nine-member board of directors.
According to the excerpts, despite Musk earning only $54,080 at SpaceX last year, he will receive substantial equity gains after the company goes public.
SpaceX aims to raise $75 billion through the IPO, achieving a valuation of approximately $1.75 trillion, which would make it the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history.
The documents show that Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX, received total compensation of $85.8 million last year, while Chief Financial Officer Brett Johnson earned $9.8 million.
The documents reveal that SpaceX will adopt a dual-class stock structure, with Class B shareholders holding 10 votes per share, concentrating power in the hands of Musk and other select insiders, while Class A shares sold to public investors will have only one vote per share.
The documents also outline certain provisions that could limit shareholders' ability to influence board elections or file certain lawsuits, forcing disputes to be resolved through arbitration and restricting the location of lawsuits.
While this structure is common in founder-led tech companies, it limits the ability of public shareholders to influence the company's strategy or challenge management.
This document gives investors their first glimpse into SpaceX's financial condition, especially after Musk merged the rocket manufacturer with his social media and artificial intelligence company xAI this year.
The combined company had approximately $24.8 billion in cash as of the end of 2025, with total assets of $92 billion and total liabilities of $50.8 billion.
Excerpts from the documents show that its satellite internet business, Starlink, generated billions of dollars in profit last year, helping to offset the massive losses incurred from the acquisition of Elon Musk's social media and artificial intelligence company xAI this year.
Due to significant investments in xAI's artificial intelligence infrastructure, SpaceX turned from profit to loss in 2025, with revenue of $18.67 billion and a loss of $4.94 billion, while the company had revenue of $14.02 billion and a profit of $7.91 billion the previous year.
In 2023, the company's revenue was $10.4 billion, with a loss of $46.3 billion.
Artificial Intelligence Spending
SpaceX's losses stem from its capital expenditures increasing nearly fivefold over two years, reaching $20.74 billion last year, with more than half going to the field of artificial intelligence.
The company's successful Starlink satellite internet service subsidized much of the spending, generating $4.42 billion in operating profit, but accounted for less than a quarter of its total capital expenditure.
Capital expenditures in the field of artificial intelligence soared from $5.6 billion in the previous year to $12.7 billion, bringing SpaceX's total capital expenditures to over $20.7 billion, more than double the previous year.
However, this is still just a small fraction of the spending by large tech