A competitor considered “small but determined” in New Zealand won. The founder of Rocket Lab USA, which is based in Long Beach, California, saw his fortune reach its first billion dollars on Friday (15), according to Forbes. The increase follows the 300% rise in the company’s shares in the last year.
The company develops and launches rockets, satellites and other spacecraft for government and commercial customers. Founder Peter Beck’s 10% stake is now worth nearly $970 million. Additionally, he is estimated to have nearly $65 million from selling shares in the company over the years.
With almost US$245 million in revenue in 2023, much lower than SpaceX’s, Beck sees his company as a solid competitor to Elon Musk’s company.
Continues after advertising
Read more:
“SpaceX is the biggest space company in the world and I think people are starting to understand that Rocket Lab is looking like it’s going to become number two,” he told CNBC in an interview Thursday. “As these two companies start to look more and more similar, it is not surprising that the valuation gap will start to narrow over time.”
With almost US$245 million in revenue in 2023, much lower than SpaceX’s, Beck sees his company as a solid competitor to Elon Musk’s company.
Continues after advertising
“SpaceX is the biggest space company in the world and I think people are starting to understand that Rocket Lab is looking like it’s going to become number two,” he told CNBC in an interview this Thursday (21). “As these two companies start to look more and more similar, it is not surprising that the valuation gap will start to narrow over time.”
On the 13th, the company’s shares rose almost 30% after announcing record revenue forecasts of US$125 million to US$135 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. The company also announced a multiple launch agreement with a constellation of commercial satellites for a larger, more reusable launch vehicle called Neutron, which Rocket Lab has been developing since 2021, as well as a proposal with NASA to recover samples from Mars and bring them back to Earth.
The company’s owner is a 47-year-old aerospace engineer who started working in 1993 at Fisher & Paykel, a household appliance manufacturer. There, Beck, who didn’t go to college, worked his way up through engineering roles, designing production machines and products for 10 years. Building rockets was a task he did in his spare time. In 2003, the engineer began working with New Zealand government research, until leaving three years later to launch Rocket Lab in 2006.
Continues after advertising
The company went public in August 2021 by merging with an acquisition company. The deal was valued at US$4.1 billion, a 200% jump compared to the company’s estimated value in 2018, in its last round of raising private investment.
Fame, however, came in 2009, when it launched the first commercially developed rocket to reach space from the Southern Hemisphere. The launch was carried out off the coast of New Zealand. The move to the USA came in 2013 and, the following year, Rocket Lab began developing its launch vehicle, Electron. From 2017, the year of its maiden voyage, to today, Electron has launched 197 small spacecraft into orbit in 49 missions.
The CEO maintains his stake in the company’s shares, after selling US$10 million in a private secondary transaction in 2019 and US$20 million as part of the SPAC merger in 2021. Last year, Beck sold another 1% for almost US$ 20 million. Since then, shares have tripled in price and reached a record high of US$19.00 per share at market close on Friday.
High Performance Entrepreneur
ONLINE COURSE
Rian Tavares reveals the secret to business management based on the method of high-performance athletes.
