Comments on: Musk: Starlink to go public once operational

By: Edward

Edward — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 05:24:37 +0000

pzatchok,
You are forgetting that Starlink can pay dividends to its owners, and I noted that if SpaceX retains a share then it can receive dividends. These dividend monies become SpaceX possessions and can be spent on Starship or any other development project. In addition, SpaceX could sell more of its share of Starlink as a source of revenue.

Most likely SpaceX already treats Starlink as a launch customer. Most likely the company keeps separate “books” for each program, and the Starlink project most likely pays the Falcon project for each launch. Separating each program helps track costs, revenues, and profits of each. Doing it any other way complicates any public offering, causing confusion for investors attempting to figure out the true costs of Starlink’s business operations.

By: Robert Zimmerman

Robert Zimmerman — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 06:42:33 +0000

In reply to pzatchok. pzatchok: Ah, but if Starlink is funded entirely from stock investments, the private investment capital raised by SpaceX and now being used to develop both Starlink and Starship can be switched entirely to Starship. The money won't get transferred across from Starlink to SpaceX-for-Starship, but it will free up capital at SpaceX for Starship alone. Furthermore, as a publicly traded company Starlink will have to buy its launches from SpaceX rather than being flown in-house. I am sure there is an on-the-books in-house transaction to pay for the flights now, but when Starlink is a separate company it will have to pay like anyone else. That's more real cash that SpaceX can funnel to Starship's development.

By: pzatchok

pzatchok — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 06:00:04 +0000

Actually by taking Starlink public he makes it a high paying customer of Space X and the Satellite construction company.

Whatever he pays for satellites and launches is a business expense thus a tax write off for Starlink and a profitable sale to the other companies.

He can not just take monies from a publicly traded company and hand it over to a private company.

By: wayne

wayne — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 06:31:08 +0000

Finished watching Rogan & Musk– highly recommend Musk in long-form. [Twice as long as his previous appearance with Rogan, which garnered something like 40 million views to date.]
(Joe however, really reveals his ignorance at times, but he tries, and Musk does a good job explaining…)

By: wayne

wayne — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 04:21:55 +0000

I’ll stick this in here….

The Joe Rogan Experience
#1609 w/ Elon Musk
2-11-21
https://youtu.be/SJefd-ByybM
3:25:25

By: Edward

Edward — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 07:02:16 +0000

It is hardly surprising that Musk wants to take Starlink public once it is operational. He had always intended for it to fund Starship and other innovations, and going public will raise a huge amount of immediate money that can be used for these purposes. If SpaceX retains a controlling share of the company then Starlink can remain innovative while providing continuing income for use in other innovative projects as SpaceX.

By: LocalFluff

LocalFluff — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 17:15:30 +0000

Business analysts criticize Tesla for not having any valuable patents, but rely on the same suppliers of battery technology and such that are used also by much larger car manufacturers (larger in product volume, not any more in stock market capitalization). The only possible rational reason for Tesla nine folding(!) its stock price last year, from already highly over-valued levels according to traditional analysts, would be Elon Musk personally and the expectations on his successful entrepreneurship and market PR. I think he could buy a chunk of stocks in almost any company and take a seat at their board of directors, to make its stock price multiply, like King Midas turning everything he touches into gold. But I doubt that many board of directors personally would like to see that happen.

The libertarian visionary Elon Musk is more fantastic than any fictional character of the genre I know of, like Hank Rearden and John Galt in Atlas Shrugged. It seems almost too fantastic as it is with a new metal alloy, a brilliant engine design and a discovered secret valley. And Dagny Taggart’s orderly operative retreats to keep a core of railroad traffic running in a failing socialist society. But that all fades compared to Elon Musk becoming the world’s richest man by completely taking over entrenched old big industries like cars and spaceflight and colonizing Mars (without any fundamental new technology inventions, just fantastic entrepreneurship and hypes that last for decades). To the amazement of all established expertise, even Robert Zubrin seems to have a hard time accepting what is happening and that he has become number two in Mars optimism.

By: pzatchok

pzatchok — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 06:44:09 +0000

A great place for my Covid checks to go.

By: Jeff Wright

Jeff Wright — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 04:58:39 +0000

Starlink therefore is Penthouse to SpaceX’s OMNI. Starlog was propped up by wrestling mags-and car manual publishers off-set costs with space-scifi titles. When you go public like Boeing-innovation dies. Here at least, you have a finished product though. Musk should still watch things closely. He offers Parler succor, Congress or a SJW from within can ruin things. Unlike Trump, he has given Twitter a rest. Keep that head down Elon.