Elon Musk wants a Spacex IPO in 2013

Business Week – Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., wants the private rocket-launch business to have an initial public offering in 2013, the entrepreneur’s third such sale in about three years.

SolarCity, based in San Mateo, California, may file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as early as next month, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The IPO may value the company at more than $1.5 billion, the person said.

The offerings could catapult Musk into the ranks of the world’s billionaires. He owns a 26 percent stake in Tesla valued at more than $650 million, after adjusting for collateralized shares. His 25 percent of SolarCity would be valued at $375 million at the valuation the company is seeking.

Musk owns more than 70 million shares of closely held rocket maker SpaceX.

Recent transactions in the private market have pegged his stake in SpaceX at about $875 million.

Separately, Musk unveiled a Tesla battery-powered sport- utility vehicle the company plans to deliver next year on the heels of its Model S sedan. The SUV has so-called gull-wing doors — described by Musk as “falcon wings” — that swing open upward, reminiscent of auto designer John DeLorean’s namesake DeLorean DMC-12 sports car from the early 1980s, featured in the “Back to the Future” movies.

The Model X, touted by Tesla as quicker than Porsche AG’s 911 sports car and roomier than Audi AG’s Q7 SUV, will be built in 2013 at the company’s Fremont, California, plant that starts making the Model S this year. Deliveries will begin late next year, and increase throughout 2014, Musk said in an interview.

“The sensible thing to do is to extend the platform of the Model S into other applications, and the next application logically is the SUV/minivan arena,” Musk said yesterday. “For relatively little capital investment, maybe between a third and half of what we spent on Model S, we can bring the Model X to market.”

The company began taking reservations for Model X, a seven- passenger crossover that shares a platform and battery system with Model S.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks