SpaceX CFO faces disclosure test after $75 billion IPO pricing

SpaceX has priced a public offering expected to raise about $75 billion, shifting attention to CFO Bret Johnsen as the company prepares for life in public markets. The deal matters because investors are being asked to fund a sprawling Elon Musk-led company whose businesses range from launches to satellite internet.

SpaceX said it set the offering price at $135 a share and confirmed the sale of 555.6 million Class A common shares at that price. The company said gross proceeds are expected to total about $75 billion before underwriting discounts and expenses, and it gave underwriters a 30-day option to buy as many as 83.3 million more shares at the IPO price.

Fortune reported that the offering consists of newly issued shares, with no existing holders selling stock in the deal. Current shareholders, including Musk, are subject to a 366-day lockup, according to Fortune.

Johnsen’s role

Johnsen has been SpaceX’s finance chief since 2011, after senior finance jobs at Mindspeed Technologies and Broadcom, Fortune reported. In a recent interview with investor Gavin Baker, Johnsen said SpaceX first had to secure reliable access to space and reduce the cost of reaching orbit.

Johnsen said in that interview that SpaceX has become the industry’s lowest-cost provider by kilogram to space and that the company expects Starship to bring another tenfold cost improvement once rapid reusability is achieved. Those comments place the company’s launch economics at the center of the case it is making to investors.

Starlink is the other major part of that case. Johnsen said the satellite internet service has more than 10 million customers in over 160 countries and operates a constellation of more than 10,000 satellites.

Investor questions

Morningstar equity analyst Nicolas Owens told Fortune that the IPO’s success will likely be assessed within days or weeks, describing the offering as one step in moving some SpaceX shares into public ownership. Columbia Business School professor Shivaram Rajgopal told Fortune that Johnsen faces a harder job than many IPO finance chiefs.

Rajgopal said most CFOs taking a company public focus on accounting, controls and explaining the business to investors. He said Johnsen must also present Musk’s ambitions through disclosures that can persuade investors to buy into a controlled company with limited governance rights and a very high valuation.

Rajgopal characterized SpaceX as a Musk-centered conglomerate spanning satellite telecom, defense contracting, artificial intelligence and Mars-related ambitions. He told Fortune that Musk’s retail investor following and institutional demand for momentum could support the deal, while warning that fundamentals may receive greater scrutiny over the next year or two.

SpaceX is expected to list on Friday, Fortune reported. After that, Rajgopal said investors will watch whether Johnsen can provide segment-level detail, show growth with scale benefits, address profitability and demonstrate that the company’s multi-business structure creates value.

Governance will also remain part of the test, according to Rajgopal. He said investors will look for meaningful independent oversight and signs that risks tied to Musk’s control can be managed.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.