Elon Musk’s SpaceX made its highly anticipated stock market debut Friday morning, establishing him as the first person to ever be worth $1 trillion.
The spacecraft and satellite communications company began trading on the Nasdaq with shares opening at $150, about 11 percent above the initial public offering (IPO) price of $135. It is expected to be the largest IPO ever, with SpaceX aiming to raise $75 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation.
“It is certainly hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is now going public with the largest IPO ever,” Musk said Friday morning from Starbase, Texas. “Let me tell you, if people had told me that this was going to happen, I was like, ‘Man you must be smoking some really good crack because I think this company’s going to fail.’”
The tech mogul, who is currently the world’s richest person, is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire as his company hits the stock market.
It also marks the first in a series of high-profile AI IPOs that are expected this year. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have filed paperwork to go public in recent weeks.
SpaceX, which was initially founded in 2002 as a rocket company, is now considered an AI play after acquiring Musk’s xAI earlier this year. All three companies appear keen to gain access to additional funding on public markets, as they face down the high cost of developing AI.
It’s unclear when OpenAI or Anthropic will join SpaceX in making their stock market debut. OpenAI underscored Monday that it has “not decided on timing yet,” adding it “may be a while because there are things we want to do that are likely easier as a private company.”
Anthropic also noted that its decision to file for an IPO gives it “the option to go public” but its “offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.”
By Agencies
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