Elon Musk’s SpaceX has become one of the world’s most valuable companies after pricing its record-breaking initial public offering at $135 per share, raising an unprecedented $75 billion from investors.
The offering, announced on Thursday, values the aerospace, satellite and artificial intelligence company at $1.77 trillion, making it the largest IPO ever completed in the United States and surpassing the previous global record set by Saudi oil giant Aramco in 2019.
SpaceX sold approximately 555.56 million shares in the offering and is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday.
At its new valuation, the company would rank as the seventh most valuable publicly listed company in the United States, ahead of several major corporations, including JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway, Eli Lilly, Meta Platforms and Musk’s electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla.
The landmark listing follows months of preparations and a highly unconventional public offering process that challenged several long-established Wall Street practices.
Unlike traditional IPOs, SpaceX announced its pricing while U.S. financial markets were still open and allocated 30 per cent of the shares to retail investors, significantly higher than the percentage typically reserved for individual investors in major offerings.
Market analysts described the move as unprecedented.
“The real test will be how the market digests the IPO over the next several weeks, not just one day,” said Adam Sarhan, Chief Executive Officer of 50 Park Investments. “The pricing came in just about right — not too hot, not too cold.”
Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments, noted that the process departed sharply from conventional IPO procedures.
“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,” he said.
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Following the offering, Musk is expected to maintain firm control of the company, retaining approximately 82 per cent of SpaceX’s voting power.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX has evolved into the world’s dominant commercial space enterprise. The company claims responsibility for more than 80 per cent of all mass launched into orbit globally over the past three years, while its Starlink satellite internet service now provides connectivity to millions of users across 164 countries and territories.
Starlink currently accounts for the bulk of SpaceX’s revenue, although the company has expanded aggressively into artificial intelligence through its xAI division.
It recently secured a multi-year cloud computing agreement with Google to support its growing AI operations.
Despite strong investor enthusiasm, some analysts have expressed concerns about whether the company’s valuation can be sustained, citing uncertainty surrounding future earnings and dependence on government contracts.
“The financial forecasts are uncertain because of the reliance on large amounts of government contracts,” said Kim Forrest, Chief Investment Officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
“People buying the stock are buying into the future and mankind escaping the Earth, not really investing in a company.”
The SpaceX listing comes amid renewed momentum in the U.S. public offerings market. Analysts expect IPO activity to surge in 2026, driven largely by investor appetite for technology and artificial intelligence companies, with Goldman Sachs projecting that total IPO proceeds could reach a record $160 billion this year.
The successful debut further strengthens Musk’s influence across multiple industries, including electric vehicles, space exploration, artificial intelligence and satellite communications, while marking a new chapter in the growth of one of the world’s most closely watched technology companies.