SpaceX has raised $75bn (£56bn) from financial firms ahead of it becoming a publicly traded company on Friday, in what is expected to be the highest-value stock listing in history. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the space exploration and artificial intelligence (AI) company said it had sold $75bn in shares priced at $135 each.
The share price matches the estimate SpaceX gave last week, leaving the firm’s expected initial stock market value to be nearly $1.8tn.
At that value, chief executive Elon Musk – already the richest man in the world – is set to become the world’s first trillionaire.
Once shares start trading, their value could rise or fall depending on how many shares are made available for sale, and how strong the demand is for those shares.
If the company’s shares sell at or above $135 when trading opens on Friday, SpaceX will immediately become one of the most valuable public companies in the world.
However, it is up to investors to decide if they think the shares are worth that much.
Interest in acquiring a stake in SpaceX among investment funds and individuals, often referred to as “retail investors,” is increasingly expected to be high.
Certain financial analysts have already set target prices for the shares above SpaceX’s $135 estimate, including the global brokerage Oppenheimer which said on Thursday it expects the company to hit $190 a share.
The public price for a share in the company is ultimately decided through what is essentially an auction on the open stock market.
Tom Mueller, who was the first official employee of SpaceX and is now the founder of Impulse Space, told the BBC’s Michelle Fleury that “it’s unbelievable” to see what the company has become.
Mueller recalled when SpaceX got its first rocket engine running, and when that engine exploded, when another rocket crashed before “finally” making a successful launch to orbit in 2008
“It’s just been an incredible ride,” he said.
Mueller left SpaceX in 2020 and maintains a considerable financial interest in the firm.
The listing on the technology-focused Nasdaq index is being viewed by some as a test case for other companies with private valuations nearing $1tn, including Anthropic and OpenAI.
Both of those companies have recently said they are preparing to go public, likely this year.
Despite SpaceX becoming a public company, which will put its operations under more scrutiny, Musk will maintain almost total control of it.
Through his combined holding of different types of shares, defined as Class A and Class B, Musk will maintain roughly 40% of SpaceX total equity, giving him more than 84% voting power.
Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and chief executive of Meta, the company that owns Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, has a similar holding of different classes of shares in his firm. Yet, his voting control is around 60% of the company, significantly less than Musk’s control of SpaceX.
With so much control consolidated with Musk, SpaceX will not even need to have on its board of directors anyone considered to be “independent,” meaning someone who does not have a direct personal or financial interest in the company.
Even if Musk decides to sell some of his Class A equity in the future, which would likely add significantly to his already record wealth, he would “retain his lock on control” due to the number of Class B shares he maintains, according to an analysis from Harvard Law School.
Such control creates potential risk for investors, the analysis said, because SpaceX insiders will be able to make decisions on business deals, including possible acquisitions of other Musk-owned entities, as well as his compensation.
Already, SpaceX has acquired Musk’s startup xAI, which itself acquired the social media platform X in 2025. Musk had bought the platform formerly known as Twitter in 2022.
By BBC News
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