SpaceX IPO Set to Break Records with $75 Billion Target

SpaceX, a company led by Elon Musk, announced plans to raise up to $75 billion in its upcoming public offering. This move positions SpaceX for the largest stock market debut to date and could propel Musk towards becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Officially called Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SpaceX aims to sell 555.6 million shares at $135 each.

The offering puts SpaceX’s market value at $1.77 trillion. Only six companies in the S&P 500 exceed this valuation, with Nvidia leading at $5.2 trillion. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s CEO, chief technical officer, and chairman, will retain significant control over the company through ownership of 5.22 billion Class B shares. Each of these shares grants 10 votes, giving Musk 82.4% voting power.

Forbes estimates Musk’s current net worth at $826 billion, with his stake in SpaceX valued at $542 billion. The expected revenue from SpaceX’s IPO would surpass the $26 billion raised by Saudi Aramco in 2019.

The IPO prospectus, which is unusually colorful and imaginative, outlines SpaceX’s ambitious plans. It details the intent to use funds from the sale to facilitate missions to the moon and potentially Mars. The document describes the vision of establishing a permanent colony on Mars with at least one million people, citing existential risks on Earth that could lead humanity to suffer the same fate as the dinosaurs.

Meanwhile, the market anticipates another significant IPO. Anthropic filed confidentially with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week to initiate its own IPO process. Although OpenAI, known for creating ChatGPT, has not yet filed its initial paperwork, an IPO is widely expected from them as well.

The report was contributed by Matt O’Brien.