Space-X raises $75 billion in landmark IPO

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Elon Musk’s prized SpaceX—a company that he has helmed for 20 years and more since 2002 has now made its debut on the NASDAQ stock exchange. 

The company has raised a total of $75 billion, making it the largest IPO in the history of public debuts. Its size far-outstrips the size of previous IPOs including Saudi Aramco, Alibaba Group, and SoftBank Corp and Agricultural Bank of China. For reference, here are the largest IPOs globally over a 20-year period:

• Saudi Aramco: $29.4B (2019, Tadawul)
• Alibaba: $21.7B (2014, NYSE)
• Agricultural Bank of China: ~$22B (2010, Shanghai/HK)
• ICBC: ~$21.9B (2006, Shanghai/HK)
• SoftBank Corp: $21.3B (2018, Tokyo)
• Visa: $17.9B (2008, NYSE)
• Facebook (Meta): $16.0B (2012, NASDAQ)
• General Motors: $15.8B (2010, NYSE)
• Rivian Automotive: $11.9B (2021, NASDAQ)
• Kraft Foods: $8.7B (2001, NYSE)
• Uber: $8.1B (2019, NYSE)
• Medline: $6.26B (2025, NASDAQ)
• Arm Holdings: $4.87B (2023, NASDAQ)
• Lineage Inc.: $4.44B (2024, NASDAQ)
• Didi Global: $4.4B (2021, NYSE)
• Airbnb: $3.5B (2020, NASDAQ)
• DoorDash: $3.4B (2020, NYSE)
• Snowflake: $3.4B (2020, NYSE)
• Viking Holdings: $1.77B (2024, NYSE)
• Venture Global LNG: $1.75B (2025, NYSE)
• CoreWeave: $1.5B (2025, NASDAQ)

The lead underwriters for the offering were Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, and a handful of other regional and international banks. 

Stock indexes ended on Thursday on a bullish note with the following benchmarks up:

• S&P 500 (SPY): +1.70%
• NASDAQ (QQQ): +3.38%
• Dow Jones (DIA): +1.82%
• Russell 2000 (IWM): +2.96%

Summary

This is the largest IPO and it carries a lot of expectations in terms of growth. In the author's view, sell-offs in the immediate post-listing period are a possibility, consistent with patterns observed in some prior IPOs. This should not be read as a prediction or recommendation.

Note: IPO investments carry additional risks including limited trading history, uncertain post-listing price performance, potential lock-up period expiries, and the possibility that the company may not achieve profitability. SpaceX has disclosed an accumulated deficit of approximately $41.3 billion and reported a net loss in Q1 2026.

Research references

• TIKR data
• SpaceX Raises $75 Billion in Record-Breaking IPO, Valued at $1.8 Trillion - Bloomberg
• https://www.designrush.com/agency/business-consulting/trends/largest-ipos-of-all-time
• https://dealroom.net/blog/biggest-ipos-of-all-time
• https://statista.com/statistics/269343/worlds-largest-ipos
• https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/Stats/Largest-US-IPOs
• https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/t052-s001-the-25-biggest-ipos-in-u-s-history/index.html
• https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/Stats

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