SpaceX, a private aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, made history on Friday with its initial public offering (IPO), shattering records and making CEO Elon Musk the first trillionaire. The company’s stock jumped 11% on its first day of trading, with investors buying 555.6 million shares at the offering price of $135 each.
Market Value and Ambitions
The massive sale brought in $75 billion, making it the largest IPO on record, surpassing the previous title holder, Saudi Aramco, which raised $26 billion during its 2019 debut. The stock is now trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol SPCX. Musk marked the start of trading by joining a ceremonial bell ringing from Starbase, the company’s facility in South Texas.
Musk stated that the company went public to raise the enormous amount of money needed for its future projects, including launching giant artificial intelligence data centers into space and establishing a colony of a million people on Mars. The CEO has ambitious plans, saying, ‘Not just a few astronauts, I mean literally you… Whoever you are watching this, SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, take you to Mars and ultimately beyond.’
Financial Challenges and Controversies
Despite the excitement on Wall Street, the company faces steep financial challenges, requiring billions more in funding than it currently makes from its rocket launches and satellite services. Between the start of 2025 and March 31, 2026, the business lost $8.7 billion. Analysts at the research firm Morningstar warned that the IPO is ‘significantly overvalued,’ estimating that SpaceX is actually worth around $780 billion, less than half of its current market value.
The rocket maker also faced pushback over how the IPO was structured, with officials representing pension funds for teachers and firefighters in California and New York protesting the terms of the offering. The officials criticized rules that give Musk ‘super voting shares’ to maintain control of the company, as well as a policy that forces shareholders into mandatory arbitration instead of allowing them to file lawsuits.
Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.
