Elon Musk flies to Silicon Valley the week SpaceX files for IPO

Elon Musk flew from the Flying K Ranch in Texas to Moffett Federal Airfield in California early Friday morning, a 3-hour-28-minute hop aboard the Gulfstream G550 N272BG. The trip lands him in the heart of Silicon Valley the same week his rocket company SpaceX filed publicly for an initial public offering, per an ABC News report. The IPO, which seeks a $1.75 trillion valuation, would rank SpaceX as the world’s ninth-largest company by market cap.

The visit also follows a decisive legal loss: on May 18, a federal judge in Oakland ruled against Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman, finding his claims were barred by the statute of limitations, as covered by TechCrunch and KQED. Musk has vowed to appeal the decision, calling it a “calendar technicality” in a post on X. The trial had kept Musk in the Bay Area for much of April and May, with his travel to China during the proceedings drawing scrutiny from the court.

Musk’s recent flight history shows frequent shuttling between Moffett, Los Angeles, and his Texas bases near Starbase and Austin. The G550’s arrival at the federal airfield—adjacent to NASA Ames and a short drive from SpaceX’s Hawthorne headquarters—suggests a week of IPO roadshow preparation and legal briefings, rather than a quick turn to Palm Beach or Brownsville.