Elon Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire as rocket company debuts on Wall Street
Bernard Condon
Updated ,first published
SpaceX rose 11 percent as shares of the rocket maker opened for trading on Friday (US time). This price gives the company a market capitalization of US$1.96 trillion ($2.78 trillion) and is enough to make CEO Elon Musk the first trillionaire in history.
The stock began trading at US$150 ($212) compared to its IPO price of US$135 ($191) per share.
With SpaceX widely seen as a dry run for the next generation of mega-listings, market participants will also be watching for signals on investor appetite ahead of IPOs for AI heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI.
The stock’s performance will also be a test of the “Musk premium,” the force behind Tesla’s more than $1 trillion valuation, even though it came under pressure during Musk’s active role in President Donald Trump’s administration.
The landmark listing cemented Musk’s status as the first trillionaire ever and propelled SpaceX among the world’s most valuable companies; Even though the company posted a loss of nearly $5 billion last year and generated only a small fraction of the revenue generated by similarly valued tech giants.
On Friday, Musk attended the ceremonial bell ringing from Starbase, SpaceX’s South Texas home, to celebrate the opening of trading on Nasdaq, where the company’s shares will be listed.
He reiterated their lofty goal of “making life multi-planetary.”
“I don’t mean just a few astronauts, I mean literally you,” Musk said. “No matter who you’re watching this from, SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, Mars, and eventually beyond.”
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen rang the Nasdaq opening bell at 9.30am New York time on Friday (11.30pm AEST on Thursday).
The record IPO is a culmination of Musk’s long-standing ambitions in space and technology, and he has come forward to rewrite Wall Street’s IPO playbook and attract large numbers of retail investors to the market.
Proceeds from the $75 billion deal were more than double that of Saudi Aramco’s record-breaking 2019 IPO.
Valuation could rise further if underwriters exercise their right to sell additional shares; this decision is usually made within 30 days of the offering.
Although SpaceX may have to wait to enter the S&P 500, its rapid inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 will soon make it a major holding for passive funds and ETFs that track the index, creating a new source of demand for its shares.
“We have to go back 100 years to find similar entrepreneurs. He’s a visionary unlike any other and he’s doing extremely well,” said Joel Shulman, CEO of ERShares, which runs an ETF with ties to SpaceX.
It will take about a month for Nasdaq to be added to that index under new fast-track entry rules, as opposed to a typical wait of up to a year.
Some analysts think SpaceX’s debut will trigger a realignment of investor portfolios and put selling pressure on other tech giants as funds return to the stock.
Despite all the excitement around the IPO, determining what SpaceX is actually worth remains a difficult valuation exercise.
SpaceX said the market opportunity has reached $28.5 trillion, the largest figure in human history. With its leading position in space (the firm says its operations are responsible for more than four-fifths of the mass launched into orbit in the past three years) and revenues from Starlink, some investors said it has a strong foundation to build on.
Gabelli Funds portfolio manager John Belton said the best company to compare SpaceX to is Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla because each has an established business and “a moonshot opportunity on the other side.”
“For Tesla, it’s things like humanoid robotics and other future applications. For SpaceX, it’s the AI business,” he said.
Obstacles to its massive valuation include efforts by rivals like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to accelerate the commercialization of space and pursue government contracts to open new markets beyond Earth. The market value of the company, whose revenue in 2025 is 18.7 billion dollars, puts the price-income ratio at a high level of 94. Some analysts have already given positive ratings to the company. Morningstar analysts said earlier this month it was valued more fairly at around $780 billion.
“This is not a name you buy based on fundamentals. The analogy for me is Amazon. This was a company that changed the way we live,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments. “It’s not ideal for the stock to drop to $100, but it doesn’t change our long-term view. We want to participate.”
More to come
Reuters, AP
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers big stories, exclusive news and expert insights. Sign up to receive it every weekday morning.
