Elon Musk Says A SpaceX Bankruptcy Is “Not Impossible”

Remember when Elon Musk joked about the potential for Tesla going bankrupt on April Fool’s Day several years ago, right before the company’s stock mysteriously rose ten-fold in the span of less than two years? Perhaps he is hoping for a repeat with SpaceX, because Musk is now openly discussing the probability of SpaceX going bankrupt, saying the scenario is “not impossible”.

Musk made the comment on Twitter, when discussing production problems earlier this week.  

“If a severe global recession were to dry up capital availability / liquidity while SpaceX was losing billions on Starlink & Starship, then bankruptcy, while still unlikely, is not impossible,” Musk wrote. 

If a severe global recession were to dry up capital availability / liquidity while SpaceX was losing billions on Starlink & Starship, then bankruptcy, while still unlikely, is not impossible.

GM & Chrysler went BK last recession.

“Only the paranoid survive.” – Grove

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2021

Musk was responding to a report citing an alleged email from Musk to SpaceX employees, wherein Musk voiced “grave concerns about the Raptor engine used by its Starship craft,” RT reported. 

The leaked email reportedly says: “Unfortunately, the Raptor production crisis is much worse than it had seemed a few weeks ago…will need all hands on deck to recover from what is, quite frankly, a disaster.”

Musk did not confirm or deny that the email was authentic. The email also apparently addressed the removal of SpaceX’s vice president of propulsion, Will Heltsley, from his job “due to a lack of progress”.

When asked later in the week how the “Raptor thing” was going, Musk responded, “It’s getting fixed”.

By the way, are there SpaceX listed call options yet?