SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell faces her biggest challenge as the company targets a 2026 IPO

Gwynne Shotwell has spent years keeping SpaceX on course while managing the unpredictable nature of her boss, Elon Musk. Now the rocket company’s president faces her biggest test yet as the firm prepares to go public, a move that could bring in over $30 billion and subject the business to intense outside examination.

SpaceX confirmed in December it was getting ready for a possible stock market listing targeting a $1.5 trillion valuation. For Shotwell, who has run day-to-day operations since 2008, the potential offering means stepping into a brighter public light after years of working behind the scenes.

Last June showed exactly what Shotwell deals with regularly. Musk got into a dispute with President Trump and threatened to shut down a spacecraft that carries supplies and people to the International Space Station. Shotwell had to smooth things over, reassuring NASA officials the company would get through the mess, NASA’s chief of staff at the time, Brian Hughes, told WSJ.

This kind of problem-solving defines Shotwell’s job. She handles customer relationships, acts as a go-between for government officials who need SpaceX but worry about Musk’s behavior, and leads the team of top managers who embrace the company’s demanding work environment. She often operates quietly, using the trust she has built over many years.

“She’s been the steady hand,” said Bill Nelson, who ran NASA under President Biden and first met Shotwell when SpaceX was just starting out. “I have a great deal of confidence in her. Because of that, I have a great deal of confidence in SpaceX.”

Musk started SpaceX in 2002. Shotwell interviewed with him and got an offer, but wavered about joining an unproven startup.

“I called him on the phone and I said, ‘I’ve been a bleeping idiot,’ and he laughed and he said, ‘Welcome to the team,'” Shotwell recalled during a 2022 talk at Stanford University.

She began as vice president of business development, meeting with government officials and satellite companies worldwide. Musk made her president in 2008, the same year SpaceX landed a $1.6 billion NASA contract that kept the company alive.

She has held that role ever since, guiding SpaceX through rough patches and helping it achieve remarkable success. The company learned to land rocket boosters and reuse them hundreds of times. In 2020, it sent astronauts to the space station from American soil for the first time since the shuttle program ended nine years earlier. It built Starlink, now the biggest satellite network ever, providing internet service.

Dan Goldberg, who runs Canadian satellite company Telesat, which both buys SpaceX launches and competes with Starlink, has known Shotwell for years. “Given all that they’ve achieved with her as president, I admire the groundedness,” he said.

Shortwell keeps SpaceX intense atmosphere alive

Shotwell has stuck with Musk for almost 25 years, longer than most people in his circle. She has defended him strongly.

When SpaceX workers posted an internal complaint about how the company handled harassment claims, Shotwell disagreed, saying other staff complained it disrupted their work. Several workers lost their jobs over the letter.

One former SpaceX worker said Shotwell knew which fights she could win with Musk and which she could not. This person remembered how Shotwell tried multiple times to stop Musk from firing a respected engineer, but eventually failed.

Shotwell also sells SpaceX’s methods. The company moves fast and makes constant improvements, unlike traditional, slow government-controlled space programs.

SpaceX pushes young engineers hard, asking them to own difficult technical problems. Some burn out, though many remain amazed at what they accomplished.

Massive challenges ahead of historic IPO

SpaceX has entered a regulatory quiet period, telling workers to stop discussing the planned stock market listing as it prepares for what could be the largest public offering in history.

The company must make Starship, its powerful two-stage rocket, work properly and fly more often. The vehicle failed three test missions last year, and part of it had an accident on the ground in November. NASA needs Starship to return astronauts to the moon, and Musk wants it for Mars settlements.

The company also plans to use Starship to put artificial intelligence data centers in space, an unproven idea it is pursuing before the possible stock offering. SpaceX also took on huge new costs last year through deals worth over $20 billion to buy wireless spectrum.

Shotwell gives her direct reports wide freedom to run their areas, people familiar with the company said. Many, including engineer Mark Juncosa and Starlink vice president Lauren Dreyer, have stayed for years. But Shotwell makes the hard decisions when needed.

“The great thing about Gwynne is she’s always stepped in where she feels the company most needs help,” said Kathy Lueders, a former SpaceX and NASA executive. “People would say, ‘We need to turn to Gwynne on this one.'”

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