Max Polyakov says the U.S. government will let him invest in space again
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Max Polyakov is co-founder of Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based rocket maker valued last year at $1.8 billion.
Why it matters: He also was forced to dump his shares in the company, after investing around $200 million, by a U.S. government that now seems to be admitting a mistake.
Catch up quick: Polyakov is a Ukrainian-born tech entrepreneur who reportedly built his fortune on e-commerce and scammy online dating sites.
- His parents had worked on the Soviet space program, and he believed there would be value in merging Ukrainian and U.S. aerospace knowledge to the upstart private space race.
- So he bought Firefly out of bankruptcy in 2016 and got to work, accepting a U.S. government requirement that sensitive tech knowledge only could flow from Ukrainian employees to American employees, not also vice versa, according to an outstanding book by journalist Ashlee Vance.
The intrigue: That agreement didn't eliminate suspicions that Polyakov was some sort of Russian spy. He told Vance that in late 2020 the U.S. government began pressuring him to exit the company, using the threat of blocking rocket launch licenses.
- He soon sold around half his stake for $75 million. Then, just two days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, CFIUS demanded that Polyakov sell the remainder. The U.S. Air Force soon followed suit.
- Polyakov hired Jefferies to run a process that ended in May 2022, when AE Industrial Partners acquired a majority stake in Firefly.
The latest: Polyakov yesterday announced that he's been "released from all conditions and obligations that the government imposed," which means he can "again invest in the U.S. space and defense industry."
- An Air Force spokesperson referred me to the Treasury Department, which didn't respond to my request for an explanation of the initial ban and subsequent reversal.
- One possibility is that Polyakov has behaved nothing like a Russian spy, contributing his money and space knowledge to Ukraine's war defense.
- Polyakov didn't return interview requests.
Look ahead: Bloomberg reported in May that AE Industrial Partners — which yesterday raised $1.28 billion for a new fund — was considering a sale of Firefly, although a source tells me that it's since changed course.
- Polyakov could, at least in theory, take a shot at buying back his company. But that seems unlikely for a whole lot of reasons, including price.
- And it doesn't sound like Firefly or its current owner have an interest in letting Polyakov buy back in at a discount, even though he originally sold under undue duress.
