SpaceX Eyes $1.5 Trillion IPO, Poised to Become World’s Ninth-Largest Company
SpaceX just lit the fuse on Wall Street's next big bang.
The private space giant is teasing a public debut that could value it at a staggering $1.5 trillion. If it lands, that figure would rocket the company straight into the ranks of the world's nine largest corporations—a club currently reserved for tech titans and oil behemoths.
From Launchpad to Ledger
This isn't just another IPO filing. It's a bid to fundamentally reshape the corporate landscape. The proposed valuation doesn't just reflect rockets and satellites; it prices in an entire off-planet economy—Starlink's global internet, point-to-point Earth travel, and the long-term bet on Mars.
Financing deep-space ambition requires capital on a scale that makes even the fattest government contracts look like pocket change. Going public unlocks that vault.
The Valuation Gravity Well
A $1.5 trillion price tag invites immediate scrutiny. It's a number that demands investors believe not just in quarterly earnings, but in multi-decade visions of interplanetary logistics. Skeptics might call it the ultimate 'story stock'—where the narrative has to escape Earth's gravity before the business fundamentals do.
For the finance world, it's a stark reminder: the biggest growth markets are no longer just emerging economies. They're other planets.
Get ready. The countdown to the most consequential public offering in history has begun.
Retail traders shape the market
SpaceX aims to raise more than $30 billion, which would top Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion IPO from 2019. If that happens, it becomes the biggest listing in history.
Some of the people said SpaceX’s faster route to public markets is tied to the strength of its Starlink business. Starlink is growing fast and includes a coming direct-to-mobile service. SpaceX is also still pushing ahead with Starship, the rocket built for the moon and Mars.
Elon also runs xAI, which now sits under the same roof as his X platform. Two of the people said SpaceX expects to use some IPO proceeds to build space-based data centers and buy chips needed to run them.
The rush of retail investors into US markets sets the backdrop. Retail traders now account for more than 20% of daily volume, and that number is even higher for stocks priced under $5.
Their growth shows up in the rise of platforms like HOOD, IBKR, and SCHW, and in the expansion of trading hours and investor tools. Retail volume has doubled since 2010, and these traders now MOVE more shares than mutual funds and traditional hedge funds combined.
The jump in 2020 from lockdowns and the spike in 2021 from GameStop were sharp, but analysts said the current trend looks steadier. Jefferies showed this in a chart that had what one analyst called “the most pointless double axis ever,” but the data still showed the same thing.
Investors weigh giant valuations
The demand for a SpaceX listing brings a big question. Investors have to decide whether they want a company with a controversial founder, no traditional profits, and a private-market valuation that dwarfs every IPO before it. The short answer from bankers is simple: yes.
Paul Abrahimzadeh of 1789 Capital said, “The median market cap of an S&P 500 company is close to $40 billion; this is a completely different stratosphere. A company like SpaceX will clearly cater to a wide swath of institutional investors — as well as retail — and is a must-own name.”
IPOs have slowed since the record $492 billion raised in 2021, while companies like SpaceX, Stripe, and ByteDance reached sky-high valuations privately. They did all of that without quarterly earnings pressure. Investors who can’t get into these private deals have grown louder, while bankers complain about losing out on fat IPO fees.
If SpaceX lists anywhere close to the $800 billion figure from its latest private round, or the $1.5 trillion valuation now under discussion, it signals that staying private only goes so far.
SpaceX already runs the world’s biggest satellite network. Its constellation beams internet to more than 8 million users, according to the company’s website. It also bought EchoStar’s radio spectrum to launch its direct-to-cell business.
But going public would force Elon and the company to deal with shareholders who might focus on short-term revenue instead of costly long-term projects like Starship.
A single IPO raising more than $50 billion would beat the annual US listing volume for eight of the past thirteen years, excluding SPACs and closed-end funds.
Stowe, an analyst, said that missing a $500 million IPO doesn’t matter much. But, “If you choose not to participate in a $30 or $50 billion IPO that does really well, that creates some significant challenges.”
The long wait for companies like SpaceX to go public means their shareholder lists are much larger and more diverse than typical IPO candidates.
Stewart said this opens the door for discussions about direct listings. The biggest so far is Coinbase in 2021, followed by major debuts from Palantir and Roblox during the Covid boom.
Private-market investors also want liquidity. A McKinsey & Co. survey from January showed that returns are now the most important metric for limited partners, rising sharply from three years before. For many of them, a SpaceX listing can’t come soon enough.
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