It wasn’t that long ago that the word unicorn felt thrilling in the world of startups. Coined in 2013 by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, the term symbolized something practically unattainable: a privately held company valued at $1 billion or more. That was the dream. A billion-dollar startup? That was the pinnacle of innovation, grit, and market magic. But fast forward just over a decade, and that once-legendary term has lost some of its sparkle.

According to the latest data from CB Insights, a staggering 1,283 companies across the globe now hold unicorn status. That’s not exactly “rare.” In fact, more than half of those billion-dollar companies — 705, to be exact — were born and bred in the United States. Billion-dollar startups are now so common they might as well come with your morning cold brew and product roadmap.

Unicorns have gone from being rare to routine.

So, what happens when everyone’s special? The bar gets raised. And that’s where our next mythical metaphor comes in — the hectocorn.

A whole new class of colossal

While unicorns used to inspire awe, hectocorns — companies valued at $100 billion or more while still privately held — are redefining what “elite” means in tech and venture capital. These aren’t just market disruptors. These are economic engines, capable of moving markets, altering government policy, and rewriting what’s possible in business.

Right now, there are just three known hectocorns:

• SpaceX, the aerospace juggernaut launched by Elon Musk, is valued at a staggering $350 billion. SpaceX has revolutionized private space travel, cargo delivery, and satellite infrastructure. It has even made interplanetary colonization a serious talking point, not just science fiction.
• OpenAI, the pioneering artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT and DALL·E, has shot to prominence in record time. CB Insights estimates its current valuation at $300 billion — a remarkable leap for a company that only launched its first major product publicly in late 2022. It’s widely considered the foundational force in generative AI and has partnerships with giants like Microsoft that extend its reach into almost every sector.
• ByteDance, the Chinese tech conglomerate and parent of TikTok, also sits at $300 billion. Despite constant political and regulatory headwinds, ByteDance has not only maintained its massive valuation but also continues to redefine mobile entertainment and short-form video on a global scale.

But there may be a fourth on the horizon.

xAI, Elon Musk’s new artificial intelligence venture, is reportedly gearing up for a new round of funding — one that could value the company at $113 billion, according to the Financial Times. If successful, that would make it the latest entrant into this ultra-exclusive club and mark Musk’s second company to breach the hectocorn threshold. That’s not just impressive — that’s billionaire-in-his-own-universe territory.

Why these companies matter

Unlike unicorns, which mostly signal potential, hectocorns represent dominance. They don’t just have product-market fit — they have full-spectrum influence. These companies can:

• Build ecosystems instead of just apps.
• Set policy agendas through lobbying power, regulatory influence, and cultural pressure.
• Reshape industries through scale, data, and capital.
• Delay or disrupt IPO markets because they don’t need public capital — private money keeps pouring in.

They also signal something deeper: the shift of value creation away from traditional businesses and into a few, highly concentrated, founder-led superpowers.

Hectocorns are built on more than hype — they’re built on vast networks of customers, AI models, intellectual property, space rockets, and billions of dollars in cash reserves. They command cult-like loyalty and provoke existential fear among incumbents. They aren't chasing relevance — they're dictating the future.

Where are they found? Mostly, the U.S.

While unicorns are now scattered across every continent, hectocorns remain concentrated in a few regions — and mostly in the United States. Whether it’s access to deep venture capital pools, mature tech ecosystems, or supportive policy environments (at least for now), the U.S. still breeds the biggest, boldest, and most capitalized ventures on Earth.

ByteDance is the lone exception — and a potent reminder that China still has the scale and ambition to produce global powerhouses. But it’s notable that the other three hectocorns are all American, and two of them share a founder in Elon Musk.

That’s not coincidence — that’s concentration of power.

But… is “hectocorn” even a real term?

You might be wondering whether anyone seriously calls these companies hectocorns — and you wouldn’t be alone. The term, while increasingly used in venture circles and startup media, hasn’t reached household status. Yet.

Then again, neither did “unicorn” when it was first coined. People laughed at it, thought it sounded too cute, too buzzy. And now? It’s the standard shorthand for private billion-dollar businesses.

So yes, hectocorn may sound made up. But so did “streaming platform,” “cryptocurrency,” and “ride-hailing app” at one point. Language evolves when the world changes fast enough — and these companies are changing it faster than anyone imagined.

The Takeaway

There’s a reason we use mythical creatures to describe these companies: what they do — and how fast they do it — still feels like magic. But unlike fairy tales, hectocorns are very real. They’re just rare. For now.

Whether they’re launching satellites, building trillion-parameter AI models, or shaping the culture of an entire generation, these giants are defining what the next 20 years of innovation will look like. Forget startup dreams of crossing the $1 billion finish line — the real prize is ten times that.

So maybe it’s time we stop thinking of hectocorns as outliers and start seeing them as trailblazers for a new economic era.

Who knows? Maybe in the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons, one of them will show up in the Monster Manual. CR rating: off the charts.

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