SpaceX IPO debuts in US markets, Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkThe Musk led company sold $75bn in shares before the market debut [Timothy Clary/AFP]By Al Jazeera Staff and ReutersPublished On 12 Jun 202612 Jun 2026SpaceX has debuted on US markets with a market valuation of more than $2 trillion, minting CEO Elon Musk as the world’s first trillionaire.Shares opened on Friday at $150 per share, marking a 6.6 percent increase from the initial public offering (IPO) price, valuing the company at $1.96 trillion, putting the aerospace company on track to become the sixth-largest company in the United States.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Can Africa turn its population boom into prosperity?list 2 of 4Stock markets surge as Trump calls off strikes on Iran, touts peace deallist 3 of 4Elon Musk poised to make history as world’s first trillionairelist 4 of 4Indonesian students protest gov’t policies amid economic strainend of listThe stock, traded under the ticker symbol SPCX, is up 22 percent since trading began.The company sold $75bn in shares, immediately valuing it at $1.77 trillion. The IPO was oversubscribed four times higher than was otherwise expected, according to the Reuters news agency.Of the institutional investors allocated, according to Bloomberg News, as much as 70 percent went to what are called long-only investments — a strategy in which holders buy assets based on the expectation that their value will grow over time — and sovereign wealth funds, including those from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as well.SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen rang the opening bell at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City at 9:30am local time as US markets opened.On Thursday, protesters gathered outside the MarketSite to protest the IPO amid continued allegations that Grok, part of xAI, a subsidiary of SpaceX, allowed users to create non-consensual deepfake sexualised images before the IPO debut.Shares of SpaceX did not trade until the middle of the trading day as the exchange collected buy and sell orders and underwriters delayed trading until supply and demand were balanced. “We would expect SpaceX to see an immediate pop in trading due to the hype around the deal, north of 20 percent perhaps,” said Samuel Kerr, global head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket. “Anything lower would actually make me nervous.”Exchanges and trading firms are eager to avoid the technical mishaps that marred Meta’s 2012 debut. With SpaceX widely viewed as a dress rehearsal for a new generation of mega-listings, market participants will also be watching for signals on investor appetite in advance of forthcoming IPOs for AI heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI.The landmark listing cemented Musk’s status as the first trillionaire ever and propelled SpaceX into the ranks of the world’s most valuable companies — even though the firm posted a loss of nearly $5bn last year and generated only a fraction of the revenue brought in by similarly valued tech giants.The surge comes amid growth driven by its Starlink subsidiary, which drives as much as 80 percent of its revenue.On Friday, SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket with 29 satellites into space from Cape Canaveral in Florida.