News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Gina Rinehart's estimated A$700m profit from SpaceX IPO wiped out as stock price dips
SpaceX shares declined below their initial public offering price of US$135, closing at US$131.11 during trading on Thursday. The aerospace and technology company experienced significant volatility following its mid-June listing, which was the largest debut in stock market history. The share price reached a peak market valuation exceeding US$2.6 trillion in the first three days of trading but has since fallen to a record low of US$1.72 trillion. Rinehart's company, Hancock Prospecting, purchased over US$1 billion worth of SpaceX shares at the IPO. Based on the stock's peak valuation, the company held an estimated paper gain of approximately US$500 million, which has now been eliminated. The latest decline represents an additional US$30 million paper loss from the peak value. Hancock Prospecting has not disclosed whether it has adjusted its position since the listing or plans to do so. Thousands of Australians participated in the IPO, with CommSec reporting that 28,000 people applied to purchase shares, setting a record for applications to an Australian IPO. The global offering was oversubscribed at three times the available shares. Some Australian institutional investors reported selling their positions early to realize profits, though Rinehart has not indicated similar actions. Market analysts attribute the recent decline to the fading initial enthusiasm surrounding the listing. SpaceX shares have fallen in seven of the last eight trading sessions. The sharpest single-day decline occurred when the company announced plans to issue additional debt through bond offerings. Short sellers betting against SpaceX have reported cumulative profits of US$3.88 billion. Analysts suggest long-term investors view the stock as part of an emerging technology sector that may require a decade or more to deliver returns.
SpaceX cleared to fly Starship again after booster failure in May
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cleared SpaceX to fly Starship prototypes again, after the company identified the probable cause of the failure of the rocket system's booster stage during a flight in May. SpaceX said over the weekend that the next flight of Starship could happen as soon as this Thursday, July 16. It would be the second-ever launch of the third version, or V3, of Starship. SpaceX also said that this Starship will carry the first third-generation Starlink satellites to space. Previously, Starship had only carried dummy versions of the larger, more powerful internet satellites. This is SpaceX's second test flight of its Starship system, and its first as a public company, testing the market's appetite for the company's "fly, fail, fix" approach to rocket development that often ends in fireballs -- or, as CEO Elon Musk calls the explosions: "rapid unscheduled disassembly." SpaceX completed its IPO and publicly listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange on June 12, making it one of the 10 most valuable companies in the world and raising nearly $86 billion, a record. SpaceX's first test launch of the V3 Starship on May 22 was largely successful. The company's Super Heavy booster lifted the 407-foot rocket into space before the upper stage section separated and deployed 20 satellite simulators along with two modified Starlinks that recorded footage of the Starship exterior. The new third-generation booster was supposed to return to Earth and perform a simulated landing in the Gulf of Mexico. But its engines didn't properly re-ignite, and it instead plummeted into the water below. The problem happened at that moment of booster separation, according to SpaceX and the FAA. SpaceX said in a post published over the weekend that "slight differences in engine startup on the ship" caused the Booster to turn 90 degrees in the wrong ...
