SpaceX Raises Record $75B in IPO, Valued at $1.77T

SpaceX began trading on the Nasdaq on Friday after raising $75 billion in the largest initial public offering in history, valuing the company at $1.77 trillion. The shares priced at $135 each, giving Elon Musk a stake large enough to make him the world’s first trillionaire based on combined holdings in SpaceX and Tesla.

The offering marks a shift for a company long defined by reusable rockets and satellite internet. SpaceX has acquired Musk’s xAI startup, folding in data centers and AI models, and now lists plans for orbital data centers among its growth priorities. Only 5 percent of shares were sold in the IPO, leaving most ownership concentrated with Musk and early investors. Institutional demand was strong, with analysts at Oppenheimer projecting a price target of $190.

The scale of the debut has immediate effects on how ordinary investors encounter the company. Because SpaceX will enter major stock indexes, passive funds that track those benchmarks will automatically purchase shares in proportion to the company’s weight. That structure means 401(k) plans and other retirement vehicles will gain exposure even for participants who never choose to buy SpaceX stock directly. A Quinnipiac poll released this month found that eight in ten Americans already express concern about artificial intelligence’s effects on jobs and daily life; the IPO accelerates the pace at which those effects reach household balance sheets.

SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell told CNBC that the company had reached a stage where public markets could support its ambitions. She noted synergies with Tesla and left open the possibility of closer integration in the future, though she said current priorities center on operations rather than a merger. Musk has described the capital raise as preparation for a significant expansion phase that includes more than 100,000 satellites and new AI infrastructure.

The valuation has drawn attention for its size relative to revenue. SpaceX reported cumulative losses of $41.3 billion since its founding in 2002, with Starlink providing the only consistently profitable segment. Proxy stocks tied to SpaceX, including EchoStar and AST SpaceMobile, rose sharply in the days before the IPO as traders sought indirect exposure. Those moves reflect both enthusiasm and the limited supply of shares available to retail investors at the offering price.

Musk retains 85 percent of voting power, a structure that limits traditional shareholder oversight. The arrangement aligns with SpaceX’s internal emphasis on individual accountability, yet it also concentrates decision-making authority at a moment when the company’s valuation rests heavily on long-term AI and space-computing bets whose technical and regulatory risks remain substantial. As additional AI-focused companies prepare their own public debuts, the pattern suggests that index-driven ownership will continue to link broad segments of American households to the sector’s volatility.