In a striking turn of events, a 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor, sold by FTX's bankruptcy estate for $200,000 in April 2023, would now be valued at approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This development has brought attention to the significant gap between the original sale price and the current value, with the latter representing a substantial 15,000x return. The deal is part of Elon Musk's efforts to enhance SpaceX's AI capabilities, particularly in the area of AI coding tools, where the company currently lags behind competitors.
The acquisition is contingent upon SpaceX's planned initial public offering, which aims to achieve a $2 trillion valuation. Meanwhile, the sale of the Cursor stake has sparked debate about the handling of FTX's assets during its bankruptcy, with founder Sam Bankman-Fried arguing that the estate's liquidation of assets too quickly resulted in the destruction of billions of dollars in value. The timing of the SpaceX-Cursor deal has also raised questions about the bankruptcy administration's decisions, with Bankman-Fried's projections suggesting that FTX's net asset value could have reached $78 billion if the estate had retained its assets. The case has significant implications for FTX customers, who, although repaid in full, did not benefit from the substantial upside of the assets sold during the bankruptcy process.