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[Updated] Insider reveals possible SpaceX IPO, Tesla shareholders will reportedly have early access

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SpaceX is preparing to IPO this year, according to a leaked report posted to a trading forum and tipped off to Teslarati. A user by the name of Jushuatree provides very specific detail in what will likely be the most anticipated and talked about IPO in the last decade.

Updated: SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell issued a statement confirming that there are no plans for a SpaceX initial public offering, contrary to Empire Capital’s original communication to its investors.

Updated: Teslarati was able to connect with Empire Capital Partners via phone call and speak to a representative in regards to the reported email sent by the firm. Empire Capital Partners confirmed the email, however also qualified it by saying they were reaching out to clients floating the idea of a SpaceX IPO in an attempt to gather more interest from clients in Tesla, Inc. They do not have any evidence of SpaceX preparing for an IPO, and they believed the best way to gain potential early interest is through an investment in Tesla.

The post reveals that Empire Capital Partners, a hedge fund focused on the technology sector, is soliciting interest in a pre-IPO for SpaceX and telling investors that the company has positioned a large stake in Tesla. Reportedly, Tesla investors will have exclusive early access to buy into the “Biggest opportunity of the decade” as soon as the initial public offering is released.

While news of a SpaceX IPO will likely trigger mass interest from institutional investors and Tesla shareholders, it’s important to note that a long process awaits before the Elon Musk-backed space company goes public. SpaceX has not yet filed an S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission which can take upwards of 30 days to review, not including any time required for additional amendments made to the filing. The S-1 filing allows the company to submit financial information to the SEC ahead of launching on the public markets. Companies looking to make an initial public offering then proceed with a “roadshow” to convince institutional investors to invest in the company. After that, the company would set the pricing of the IPO and begin the offering.

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[Update: Empire Capital Partners, in fact, has no relation with a hedge fund run by Scott Fine and Peter Richards. The compay’s official entity is Empire Capital GP, LLC]

Empire Capital Partners is a global asset manager, based in Connecticut, with $1.13B in assets and was founded in 2005. ECP was founded by Scott A. Fine and Peter J. Richards, and they have participated in several large IPOs including Box, Square, Twitter, Fitbit, and Esty. The company lists SpaceX as a partner on their website and a featured investment that is “live” to their customers.

According to the insider note posted to Sharetrader, ECP has a “10-year history of substantial financial investment” with SpaceX. The note indicates that the hedge fund has been working on the deal for the past 18-months and looking forward to presenting “the biggest pre-IPO opportunity of 2017, maybe even the decade” to its investors.

“Empire Capital Partners is proud to present to you, the fantastic opportunity, in which you are able to take full advantage by getting involved at the ground level. This is sure to be the biggest pre-IPO opportunity of 2017, maybe even the decade. SpaceX is the brainchild of Elon Musk, a highly undervalued company founded in 2002. SpaceX raised $1 billion from Google Inc. and Fidelity Ventures in January 2015. This investment accounts for less than 10% of the company’s estimated value, conservatively between $10 and $12 Billion US Dollars.” reads the email sent to Joshuatree.

SpaceX will list on the NYSE, while Tesla is listed on the NASDAQ. Tesla’s IPO in 2010 went for $17 per share and raised over $226M. Tesla has since raised several billion dollars from the public markets since, including $1.4B in March this year, and continues to see strong demand from investors.

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Musk stated in 2015 that a SpaceX IPO would be unlikely in the future, stating, “It will go public once we have regular flights to Mars.” Since then, Musk has seen incredible success in the public markets. Tesla continues to set record highs and currently worth over $51B, becoming one of the largest automakers in the world. Additionally, the overall conditions in the market are at near all-time highs – a prime condition for a SpaceX IPO.

SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk and has since risen to become a multi-billion dollar company with over 5,000 employees. The company has completed dozens of flights over the past couple of years and landed several lucrative contracts with NASA, The Department of Defense, SES, and Iridium. Outside of SpaceX’s current operations, Musk has even larger plans for the company. Musk revealed in June 2016 that SpaceX intends to build a rocket capable of reaching Mars and transporting large masses of people. Called, Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), SpaceX is looking to build a 40-story tall re-useable rocket capable of carrying hundreds of people to the red planet. The company has lofty goals to start testing the ITS rocket after 2020 but requires significant funding for the program. At its inception, Elon Musk injected roughly $100M in capital into the company.

We’ve provided a copy of the original e-mail tipped off to Teslarati and reportedly sent by Empire Capital Partners to its clients.

We are currently positioning the bulk of our clients into ‘Tesla Motors Inc.’ a company trading on the NASDAQ in New York under the trading symbol ‘TSLA.’ The company has an ancillary company preparing for a formal listing in the New York Stock Exchange, as an IPO (Initial Public Offering) called SPACE X. The reason we are putting all our preferred clients into TESLA; is what we know. Not only is TESLA going to show solid gains in the short term – yielding clients anywhere upwards of 20%. We have insight that the SPACE X IPO will be the most lucrative, and sought after IPO of 2017! Elon Musk, the founder of PayPal, and CEO of Tesla, Solar City and Space X has announced – the existing shareholders of Tesla will have exclusive option to buy into the Initial Public Offering of Space X as soon as they are released. Elon Musk likes to take care of his own. We have bought an institutional position in TESLA and are using the shares that we have acquired to bring new clients on board at a discount, in order to show them how Empire Capital Partners can deliver in 2017. Our goal is simple. We want to show you the power of information and get you involved in the Space X IPO. The minimum investment into TESLA is $10,000.00 USD and that would allow you to take advantage of the Initial Public Offering of SPACE X once it is announced. You can find additional information about TESLA at http://www.tesla.com

Empire Capital Partners has, with SpaceX, a 10 year history of substantial financial investment. We have spent the last 18 months in analytical research having crossed all the T’s and dotted all the I’s.

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Empire Capital Partners is proud to present to you, the fantastic opportunity, in which you are able to take full advantage by getting involved at the ground level. This is sure to be the biggest pre-IPO opportunity of 2017, maybe even the decade. SpaceX is the brainchild of Elon Musk, a highly undervalued company founded in 2002. SpaceX raised $1 billion from Google Inc. and Fidelity Ventures in January 2015. This investment accounts for less than 10% of the company’s estimated value, conservatively between $10 and $12 Billion US Dollars.

Although SpaceX is known by the general public for its work on reusable rockets, the well-known giant Google has other interests Google’s interest peaked with Musk’s recent announcement when he outlined a plan for a global communications system that would use satellites to beam low-cost internet around the world.

Elon exclaimed, “Larger than anything that has been talked about to date,” He added, “at least five years and $15 billion to build and will implement 700 tiny satellites 750 miles above the Earth.” Google has long had similar ambitions itself by spreading internet around the world, including to remote regions. Google would then boost the number of people who have access to its services and of course all the extra revenue that comes with it! SpaceX points out that two thirds of the world have no access at all. It’s why we’re so focused on new technologies. New technologies that have the potential to bring hundreds of millions more people online in the coming years.”

Facebook and Google have already been working with balloons and drones trying to figure out how to spread Internet access. The internet space race is on! With Google heavily investing such large amounts into SpaceX, TALK ABOUT A WINNING COMBINATION! GOOGLE AND ELON MUSK! Now might be the time to sell those Facebook shares and back SpaceX by investing into the only clear winner of that race.

Even combining Google and SpaceX’s achievements and technologies, there are still a lot of big questions and challenges around how Musk’s satellite vision will work. Another big challenge would be installing ground-based antennas and computer terminals to receive the satellite signals. One thing that you can count on, the sure fire bet!

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IF ELON MUSK PUTS HIS MIND AND MONEY INTO IT. IT WILL HAPPEN!

Fidelity invested in SpaceX in January 2015, putting up $16.75 million to join Google in a $1Billion investment. Fidelity now values its SpaceX stake at $19.25 million, a 15% increase. SpaceX said the two new additional investors owned just under 10% of the company. Google put the vast majority of cash into SpaceX’s billion-dollar financing round — $900 million for a 7.5% stake in the company. That implies SpaceX’s new valuation is $12 billion and puts the company ahead of companies like Dropbox, Snapchat and Airbnb, but behind Xiaomi, Uber and Palantir.

As a private company, SpaceX’s financials are fairly opaque, it has booked as much as $7 billion in future revenue from 60 commercial launch bookings over the next several years, and last year won a $2.6 billion contract to build the Dragon 2 and transport astronauts to the International Space Station. It also is bidding for a second contract to ferry cargo to the International Space Station (ISS), which is expected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

SpaceX now ranks fourth on The Wall Street Journal’s list of billion-dollar private companies, securing an easy $12 Billion valuation.

SpaceX’s value exceeds that of rivals. United Launch Alliance, a key SpaceX competitor in the US, is reportedly the subject of a $2 billion takeover bid by the space firm Aerojet. But ULA has older technology and less commercial business than SpaceX. Arianespace, the European private launch contractor, was valued between $340 and $640 million as France prepared to sell its stake in the firm this summer, but it does not manufacture its own rockets.

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Christian Prenzler is currently the VP of Business Development at Teslarati, leading strategic partnerships, content development, email newsletters, and subscription programs. Additionally, Christian thoroughly enjoys investigating pivotal moments in the emerging mobility sector and sharing these stories with Teslarati's readers. He has been closely following and writing on Tesla and disruptive technology for over seven years. You can contact Christian here: christian@teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

‘You chose ambition’: Tesla Chair hails shareholders for backing Elon Musk’s vision

Denholm stated that the vote highlighted TSLA investors’ continued confidence in both Musk’s leadership and Tesla’s vision for an autonomous, AI-driven future.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm has issued a letter to shareholders celebrating what she described as “overwhelming support” at this year’s Annual Meeting, framing the approval of Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar pay plan as a defining moment in Tesla’s mission. 

Denholm stated that the vote highlighted TSLA investors’ continued confidence in both Musk’s leadership and Tesla’s vision for an autonomous, AI-driven future.

Denholm hails shareholder confidence

In her letter, which was posted by the electric vehicle maker on X through Tesla’s official handle, Denholm thanked investors for backing Proposals One, Three, and Four, items she said reaffirm Tesla’s “Master Plan Part IV” and its broader mission to accelerate sustainable prosperity. She characterized the shareholder vote as “a vote of confidence in our visionary leader, Elon,” crediting Musk with transforming Tesla into one of the most valuable companies in history.

“In a year when many tried to sow doubt and negativity, you chose a better future,” Denholm wrote. “You chose ambition. You chose to see what is possible. You chose to back the people who have been in the room since the earliest days, fighting for the mission that first brought us all together—a better world for humanity,” she wrote in her letter. 

Her comments framed Musk’s pay package approval not only as a governance milestone but as a symbolic endorsement of Tesla’s long-term trajectory across autonomy, AI, and energy innovation.

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“A whole new book” of innovation

Denholm highlighted Tesla’s push toward autonomy as the company’s next major growth phase, citing the Robotaxi program and Optimus humanoid robot as examples of bringing artificial intelligence “into the physical world.” She described this period as potentially “the largest value-creation event in Tesla’s history, and quite possibly in the history of humanity.”

The letter reaffirmed the board’s commitment to direct engagement with shareholders through Tesla’s online platform and live events. Denholm emphasized that feedback from investors “informs our strategy and strengthens us” as Tesla prepares for new technology rollouts and expanded AI capabilities.

“You, our shareholders, have given us the mandate and the runway to execute. We are humbled, and rest assured that we do not take that responsibility lightly… Thank you for believing in Tesla. Thank you for standing with us. We look forward to years of bold leadership and pioneering innovation, fueled by our commitment to creating a better future for all,” she wrote.

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Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey endorses Elon Musk Tesla pay package

Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.

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Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has publicly backed Elon Musk’s leadership ahead of Tesla’s pivotal shareholder vote, which is expected to be decided later today at the company’s 2025 annual meeting. 

Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.

Dorsey’s public nod framed as an engineering defense of Musk

In a post on X, Dorsey weighed in on Tesla’s post about being in a “critical inflection point.” As per the Twitter-co-founder, the vote on Musk’s 2025 performance award is not about compensation. Instead, it’s about ensuring the path for the company’s engineering in the coming years. 

“This is not about compensation. it’s about ensuring a principled (and exciting!) engineering approach to the company’s future,” Dorsey wrote on his post, later stating that users of Cash app with TSLA shares would be able to vote for the CEO’s proposed 2025 performance award. 

Elon Musk appreciated Dorsey’s endorsement, responding to the Twitter co-founder’s post with a heart emoji. Musk has been pretty thankful for the support for is fellow tech executives, also thanking Michael Dell recently, who also advocated for its proposed 2025 performance award.

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Musk’s support

While Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award has received opposition from proxy advisors such as Glass Lewis and ISS, it has received quite a lot of support from longtime bulls such as ARK Invest, and, more recently, Schwab Asset Management following calls from TSLA retail shareholders. 

“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value. We apply our own internal guidelines and do not rely on recommendations from Glass Lewis or ISS. In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved,” Charles Schwab told Teslarati.

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Tesla Robotaxi and autonomy dreams lean on shareholders: Wedbush

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Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East/X

Tesla’s dreams of developing a Robotaxi suite that utilizes a fully autonomous platform developed by the company’s top-tier talent now lean on shareholders and perhaps the most crucial vote in its history.

That’s what Dan Ives of Wedbush said in a new note to investors on Wednesday. As the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting is now just one day away, investors are down to their final chance to vote for or against Elon Musk’s new compensation plan.

Ives wrote that, while the company has made its intentions clear, wanting to maintain Musk, pay him accordingly, and give him the voting power he has long wanted, ultimately, the responsibility falls on investors.

As many retail shareholders have pushed for people to vote for Musk’s compensation package, there are a handful of large-scale funds and firms that have decided to go in another direction. Bullish Wall Street firms, Wedbush being one of them, believe it is crucial for Tesla to maintain Musk.

The vote could have major implications on whether Tesla launches an autonomous Robotaxi suite in the near future, Ives says:

“Getting Musk’s pay package approved tomorrow at the highly anticipated meeting will be a big step towards advancing Tesla’s future goals with the autonomous and Robotaxi roadmap ahead.”

While some investors are convinced the company is ready to go in a different direction simply based on Musk’s political involvement over the past year, many investors are under the impression that the development of Tesla’s autonomy suite, as well as its prowess in the EV sector, would fall if Elon were not at the helm.

Tesla’s Board of Directors has already stated that they have received confirmation that Musk’s political involvement would wind down in a timely manner. Moving forward, his focus will not veer from the mission of any of his companies; at least that’s what can be gathered from some of the Board’s communications over the past month.

Musk’s new compensation package is incentivized by performance metrics and will require him to achieve a handful of lofty tranches. He will not get paid unless he drives shareholder value, which is something many skeptics tend to leave out.

Ives continues:

“This new incentive-driven pay package for Musk would also provide an additional 423 million shares of common stock (~12% of shares), which would increase his ownership of Tesla up to ~25% voting power, which we believe was critical to keep Musk at the helm to lead Tesla through the most critical time in the company’s history. We believe this was the smart move by the Board to lay out these incentives/pay package at this key time as the biggest asset for Tesla is Musk…and with the AI Revolution, this is a crucial time for Tesla ahead with autonomous and robotics front and center.”

Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $600 price target on shares.

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