Elon Musk's SpaceX raises $75bn ahead of record stock market debut

SpaceX Raises $75 Billion Ahead of Planned Public Listing

SpaceX has raised $75 billion (£56 billion) from financial firms ahead of a planned public listing on Friday. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company stated it sold $75 billion in shares priced at $135 each. The share price aligns with the estimate SpaceX provided last week, producing an expected initial market value of nearly $1.8 trillion.

At that valuation, chief executive Elon Musk would hold a stake that makes him the first individual to reach a net worth of $1 trillion based on public market pricing. SpaceX is offering only 5 percent of total shares in the initial tranche. Once trading begins, the share price will be determined by supply and demand on the open market.

Certain financial analysts have published price targets above the $135 level. Oppenheimer, for example, stated on Thursday that it expects the shares to reach $190. The final public price will result from the auction process conducted when trading opens on the technology-focused Nasdaq index.

Peta Cooper, a 43-year-old copywriter based in Cornwall, said she plans to purchase approximately £750 of the shares. Cooper, who maintains a portfolio concentrated in technology and cryptocurrency holdings, cited the company's launch record as a factor in her decision. She indicated she intends to retain the position over the long term even if the price declines after the debut.

Economist Sinead O'Sullivan, who previously worked at NASA, described the valuation as carrying substantial uncertainty. She stated that a large amount of future performance is incorporated into a single share price and questioned whether the current level fully reflects expected returns.

SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell told CNBC that external interest from individual investors had increased in recent years. She said the timing now appears appropriate for a public listing while emphasizing that the company maintains long-term project timelines rather than a focus on quarterly results.

Tom Mueller, SpaceX's first employee and later founder of Impulse Space, described the company's development since its initial engine tests and the 2008 orbital launch. Mueller, who departed the company in 2020, retains a financial interest in SpaceX.

The planned listing has been noted by some observers as a reference point for other privately valued companies approaching $1 trillion, including Anthropic and OpenAI. Once public, SpaceX will be subject to additional regulatory reporting requirements.

Musk is expected to retain approximately 40 percent of total equity through holdings that include multiple share classes carrying additional voting rights. This structure would give him effective control of roughly 85 percent of voting power. Under these conditions, the company would not be required to appoint directors classified as independent under standard exchange rules.

An analysis from Harvard Law School noted that concentrated voting control allows insiders to approve transactions, including acquisitions involving other entities connected to Musk, as well as decisions on compensation. The analysis identified this arrangement as creating potential conflicts for outside shareholders.

Shotwell stated to CNBC that no other individual is positioned to lead the company and that the current control structure is intentional.

SpaceX has not acquired xAI. xAI remains a separate entity founded by Musk. The social media platform X is also held separately and was not acquired by xAI.