Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confidentially filed for a US initial public offering, setting the stage for what could become the largest stock market listing on record, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.
A public listing at a potential valuation of more than $1.75 trillion would signal that space exploration has moved from speculative venture to a mainstream investment theme.
SpaceX’s growth has been driven by its reusable rockets and the Starlink satellite Internet network.
The filing comes after SpaceX merged with Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI in a deal that valued the rocket company at $1trn and the developer of the Grok chatbot at $250 billion.
The Starbase, Texas-headquartered firm could seek to raise more than $50bn in the IPO, handily surpassing the 2019 flotation of Saudi Aramco, which remains the largest IPO on record.
A blockbuster SpaceX debut could jolt the IPO market back to life after years of subdued activity, with market participants expecting strong demand from both retail and institutional investors, some drawn by Musk’s brand and others seeking exposure to SpaceX’s fast-growing space and satellite businesses.
SpaceX is the world’s most valuable privately held company, based on the valuation implied by its merger deal with xAI.
The rocket startup was last valued at about $800bn in a secondary share sale independently.
Several other high-profile startups, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI and rival Anthropic, are also said to be weighing large IPOs, setting up a broader test of investor appetite for new listings.
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