Elon Musk's SpaceX has set its initial public offering (IPO) price at $135 per share, raising a record $75 billion, or about 2.46 trillion baht. This valuation pushes the company's total worth to $1.77 trillion, roughly 61 trillion baht, and is expected to make Elon Musk the world's first "trillionaire" immediately upon its Nasdaq market debut.
This fundraising, through the sale of 555.56 million shares, breaks the previous record held by Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant, which raised $25.6 billion in December 2019—equivalent to $33.2 billion adjusted for inflation.
With an estimated valuation of $1.77 trillion, based on 13.08 billion total outstanding shares, SpaceX surpasses several major U.S. companies, including JPMorgan Chase bank, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, as well as Meta Platforms and Tesla, the latter being another key business of Musk's.
However, the company's valuation could rise further if the underwriting banks exercise their option to sell additional shares, typically within 30 days after the IPO.
In this IPO, Elon Musk continues to demonstrate his unconventional approach by operating under his own terms, breaking several traditional Wall Street norms. For instance, the official IPO price announcement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission came around 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time—while U.S. stock markets were still open—contrary to the usual practice of announcing after market close to avoid volatility.
Additionally, SpaceX allocated an unusually high 30% of shares to retail investors and set the offering price in advance before the traditional roadshow presentations to investors—steps that typically involve negotiations on price by institutional investors and financial firms.
Although SpaceX stated that its total addressable market is valued at $28.5 billion—described as the "largest value in human history"—covering space transportation and the Starlink satellite internet network servicing retail customers, organizations, and governments across 164 countries, this remains the company's primary revenue source today.
SpaceX also gains an edge by integrating its real-time data processing infrastructure with xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence startup, which acquired the X platform (formerly Twitter) in 2025, and recently signed a long-term cloud services agreement with Alphabet's Google to prepare for intensifying competition.
However, some analysts question the high company valuation, pointing out last year's losses and revenues lagging far behind other large companies. Kim Forrest, Chief Investment Officer at Bokeh Capital Partners, noted, "The company's financial forecasts remain highly uncertain due to reliance on numerous government contracts. Buyers are investing in the future and humanity's opportunity to transcend Earth, not a conventional company investment."
The company also faces significant competition from Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, which is aggressively expanding its commercial space business and pursuing similar government contract opportunities.
Although SpaceX will become a public company subject to stricter oversight, Elon Musk will maintain absolute control through dual-class shares (Class A and Class B), giving him about 40% ownership but 82% to 84% voting rights.
This control surpasses Mark Zuckerberg's roughly 60% voting rights at Meta, meaning SpaceX does not require independent directors on its board. Harvard Law School's analysis warns this structure poses risks to other investors because Musk's insiders can unilaterally decide on business deals, acquisitions, and even Musk's own compensation.
SpaceX's stock market debut is viewed as a critical test for other near-trillion-dollar startups, especially in artificial intelligence like OpenAI and Anthropic, which also plan public listings in 2026. Goldman Sachs predicts a strong U.S. IPO market recovery this year, potentially reaching a record $160 billion.
SpaceX shares are expected to begin trading on Friday afternoon (12 June) U.S. time, given the complexity and unprecedented size of the deal. Leading banks including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan are managing the offering.