Elon Musk becomes world's first dollar trillionaire after record SpaceX IPO
Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk (Getty Images)
SpaceX has officially set the price of its shares as part of what is being described as the largest initial public offering in U.S. history. Elon Musk’s rocket manufacturer has now joined the ranks of the world’s most valuable corporations, according to Reuters.
During the previous trading session, SpaceX shares were priced at $135 each. This allowed the company to raise a staggering $75 billion. More than 555 million shares were offered to the market, giving the company a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion.
This is a record, with Musk surpassing even oil giant Saudi Aramco. In 2019, the Saudi company raised $25.6 billion, a figure SpaceX has left far behind. The offering was so large that the company’s valuation could rise even further over the next month.
What to expect when trading begins
When trading officially opens on Nasdaq on Friday, SpaceX will become the seventh-largest publicly traded company in the United States. This has surprised analysts because the company was still unprofitable last year. Nevertheless, it has been valued higher than JPMorgan Chase and even Meta Platforms.
"The real test will be how the market digests the IPO over the next several weeks, not just one day," said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments in New York.
He added that the pricing appears to be nearly perfect. Retail investors have been actively buying shares, creating the momentum needed for a successful launch.
How Musk broke Wall Street traditions
Elon Musk once again ignored Wall Street conventions by allocating 30% of the offering to retail investors. This is unusually high, as banks typically favor large institutional funds. Musk also retained near-total control of the business and will hold 82% of voting rights in SpaceX after the IPO.
"The SpaceX pricing is really in uncharted territory. I've never seen the price announced instead of the normal process of price discovery based on orders," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments.
Will SpaceX become a gold mine?
At the moment, Musk's biggest source of revenue is not SpaceX itself but Starlink, the satellite internet network operating in 164 countries. Its users include millions of individuals, businesses, governments, and military organizations.
Beyond space technology, the company is also expanding its artificial intelligence venture, xAI. Musk believes that combining space-based data with computing power will give him a strategic advantage over competitors.
Not everyone is optimistic, however. Experts point to the company's reliance on government contracts.
"The financial forecasts are uncertain because of the reliance on large amounts of government contracts. People buying the stock are buying into the future and mankind escaping the Earth – not really investing in a company," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
Investors are eagerly awaiting today's trading session. Most IPOs deliver first-day gains of around 10–15%. If SpaceX shares surge by 50%, it would signal extraordinary market enthusiasm.
What to know about Elon Musk's wealth
As previously reported, although Elon Musk's fortune exceeds the annual GDP of 125 countries, that money is not sitting in a bank account. Musk cannot simply withdraw the entire amount because it represents the value of his companies, which can rise and fall over time.
It has also emerged that SpaceX could add significantly more to Musk's fortune, as the company plans to establish its own production of AI graphics processors.
