SpaceX launched on the Nasdaq on June 12, 2026, under ticker SPCX, pricing shares at $135 each and raising $75 billion in the biggest initial public offering the world has ever witnessed. The opening price of $150 per share quickly climbed to a closing price of $161, representing a 19 percent one-day surge that briefly pushed the company's market capitalisation past the $2 trillion mark, making Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. Investor demand was extraordinary, with over $100 billion in retail orders and $250 billion in total demand — an oversubscription rate nearly four times the offering size.
What Happened
The SpaceX IPO was weeks in the making. On June 3, 2026, the company announced plans to raise $75 billion at a fixed price of $135 per share, targeting a valuation exceeding $1.75 trillion, which would rank it among the ten most valuable listed companies on Earth. The road to the IPO was not smooth. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sent a 12-page letter to the SEC requesting a delay on grounds of valuation opacity, governance concerns and insufficient investor protections. The SEC did not delay the offering.
Market data from the first trading session confirmed both the demand frenzy and the valuation debate. SpaceX opened at $150, 11 percent above the IPO price, and closed at $161 — a 19 percent first-day gain that ranked among the strongest for a mega-cap debut. The company's market capitalisation briefly crossed $2 trillion intraday, a threshold that placed SpaceX ahead of every listed company in the world except Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia at their peak valuations.
Why It Matters
The SpaceX IPO is significant beyond its headline size. It triggered what analysts described as a capital rotation away from established technology companies, with hedge funds selling positions in the Magnificent Seven to free up cash for the historic offering. This shift reflected the extraordinary opportunity cost assigned to missing the SpaceX debut, even at a valuation that many professionals considered stretched. The debut also reinforced the growing convergence between institutional crypto finance and traditional capital markets, as several blockchain-focused investors participated through pre-IPO secondary transactions.
At $135 per share, SpaceX traded at approximately 100 times sales — a multiple far above the 20 to 30 times revenue typically seen in the aerospace and defence sector. Proponents argued that SpaceX is not merely a rocket company but a platform spanning satellite internet, deep space exploration and eventually point-to-point Earth transport, sectors where comparable multiples are higher. Critics, however, pointed to the governance structure and the concentration of voting power in Musk as a structural risk that the valuation premium did not adequately reflect.
What's Next
Short seller Jim Chanos articulated the bearish case on June 10, stating that the company was "not worth $1.75 trillion based on any reasonable assumptions over the next five years." Morningstar published a valuation of $780 billion, placing fair value roughly 48 percent below the IPO price. Despite the scepticism, some short sellers adopted a wait-and-watch posture, unwilling to bet against a stock with momentum driven by retail enthusiasm and the cult-like following Musk commands.
The immediate question for markets is whether the post-IPO rally is sustainable. Historical mega-IPO data and academic studies on lock-up expirations suggest that extraordinary first-day pops at large offerings tend to face selling pressure when lock-ups expire and early investors can exit. For SpaceX specifically, the next catalyst will be the company's first earnings report and any guidance on the Starlink revenue trajectory, Starship commercialisation timeline and the anticipated NASA Artemis mission cadence. If these numbers meet or exceed the elevated expectations embedded in a $1.75 trillion price tag, the valuation debate may resolve itself in Musk's favour. If not, Chanos and his peers could prove to be early and correct in their scepticism.