The value of a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor, sold by FTX's bankruptcy estate for $200,000 in April 2023, would now be approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured the right to purchase Cursor for $60 billion later this year or pay $10 billion if the acquisition does not proceed, as part of his efforts to bridge the gap with competitors in the AI coding tools sector.
The deal has been delayed due to SpaceX's planned initial public offering, which aims for a $2 trillion valuation. The crypto aspect of this transaction involves Alameda Research, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, which invested $200,000 in Anysphere, the company behind Cursor, in April 2022. This investment represented roughly 5% of the company at a $4 million valuation. After FTX's collapse, the court-appointed estate sold the Cursor stake for the same $200,000, resulting in a significant missed recovery opportunity for creditors.
The timing of this sale has awkward implications for FTX's bankruptcy administration, particularly given Bankman-Fried's arguments that the estate's rapid asset liquidation destroyed billions in value. The trajectory of Cursor's valuation, from its AI coding product launch in 2023 to its current valuation, is one of the steepest in software startup history.
While FTX customers have been repaid in full, they did not benefit from the upside of the assets sold during the bankruptcy process, including the substantial increase in the value of the Cursor stake.