Among that throng of people is Bret Johnsen, who has served as the company’s only chief financial officer and acted as the quiet architect behind the largest IPO in history. His stake in the company has now exceeded about $1.4 billion, meaning SpaceX going public made him a billionaire overnight.
Musk brought on Johnsen as CFO in 2011 explicitly to guide SpaceX through its IPO.
“His experience will be invaluable to SpaceX as we implement the financial standards and processes needed to allow for the possibility of becoming a public company,” Musk said in a statement at the time of Johnsen’s hiring.
Johnsen must now see SpaceX through its next era, delivering on its myriad promises surrounding satellites, internet, AI, and space travel.
Prior to SpaceX’s IPO that raised $75 billion, Johnsen was already busy navigating the space company’s merger with xAI, Musk’s AI company, which it acquired in February in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.25 trillion.
But following SpaceX’s launch as a public company, Johnsen’s job will look a little different than those of typical CFOs. Because the company set aside 30% of shares for retail investors, a much higher allocation than typical IPOs, Johnsen will have heavy lifting to do in articulating SpaceX’s role in the space and AI sectors.
“He can do all of this because Musk has a massive retail investor following, and the institutions getting in now are hoping to make a buck riding the momentum before the cold reality of fundamentals catches up in a year or two,” Rajgopal said.
During the 2008 Financial Crisis, he cut jobs and spending, restructured the company’s debt, sold its technology patents, and raised cash through selling additional company shares. In his three years at Mindspeed, he said he increased the valuation of the company 15-fold.
