Elon Musk has become the world's first trillionaire after SpaceX's historic initial public offering raised more than $75 billion on Friday, with shares closing nearly 20% higher on their trading debut. The blockbuster IPO valued the rocket company, satellite operator, and artificial intelligence conglomerate at just under $1.8 trillion before trading, with the stock climbing to more than $2 trillion in market value by day's end.

SpaceX shares opened at $135 per share on the Nasdaq exchange and climbed as high as $176, or 31% above the offering price, in their first trading session before settling at $161.50. The company priced more than 555 million shares, with options for nearly 83 million additional shares that could push total proceeds above $86 billion. The offering was more than four times oversubscribed, reflecting extraordinary investor demand for a company that has expanded far beyond its original mission as a rocket startup.

"SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the Moon, take you to Mars, and ultimately beyond. I'm confident at this point that with the incredible team that we have here at SpaceX, that we will do that for you," said Elon Musk at a launch event in Starbase, Texas.

Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer at SpaceX

The IPO places SpaceX among the 10 most valuable American companies, ahead of Tesla, Meta, and Walmart. The milestone has already minted thousands of new millionaires and several billionaires among current and former employees, as well as early investors who have held stakes in the company since its founding in 2002. About 100 people gathered outside the Nasdaq's New York headquarters to mark the occasion, while SpaceX also celebrated with a neon sign in Times Square.

What Makes SpaceX's Valuation So Extraordinary?

The record valuation largely depends on Musk delivering on promises that read like science fiction. SpaceX's regulatory filing claims the company can pull in more than $28.5 trillion in revenue from its various markets, including satellite internet expansion, space-based data centers, and human missions to Mars using technology that has yet to be proven at scale. This projection far exceeds the company's current revenue of $18.7 billion in 2025, though SpaceX is also losing money, with a net loss of $4.9 billion, primarily due to spending on artificial intelligence capacity.

The company has begun renting out its AI computing capacity to Anthropic and Google through short-term deals worth billions of dollars, an effort to shore up its financial position while building out infrastructure for its Grok chatbot and other AI initiatives. Grok is Musk's artificial intelligence rival to OpenAI and Anthropic, though it has yet to gain significant market traction compared to competitors.

How Does SpaceX's Business Model Combine Space and AI?

• Satellite Internet Expansion: SpaceX's Starlink service represents a major revenue opportunity, with the company planning significant expansion of its satellite internet network to reach underserved markets globally.
• AI Computing Infrastructure: The company is building data centers and renting computing capacity to major AI firms like Anthropic and Google, creating a new revenue stream while supporting the broader AI industry.
• Space Exploration and Human Missions: SpaceX aims to establish human presence on the Moon and Mars, with the company claiming it can generate trillions in revenue from space-based activities and resource extraction.
• xAI Integration: The conglomerate has folded Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI, which includes the social media platform X, into its structure, creating a vertically integrated technology ecosystem.

The IPO is expected to kick off a series of major offerings by artificial intelligence companies in the coming months, with OpenAI and Anthropic both recently filing initial documents with regulators. Wall Street is closely watching how the market absorbs SpaceX's offering and what it signals for other AI-focused companies seeking to go public.

What Are the Risks Behind the Valuation?

The extraordinary valuation faces significant headwinds. SpaceX's current financial performance shows the company burning billions annually on infrastructure and research and development, with no clear path to profitability at the scale required to justify a $2 trillion valuation. The company's most ambitious claims, including putting data centers in space and establishing sustainable human settlements on Mars, rely on technology that remains unproven and faces substantial technical and regulatory hurdles.

Musk's polarizing public persona has also drawn criticism. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren remarked on the milestone, stating: "The world will get its first trillionaire while Americans across the country are scraping together every dollar to save for retirement". The entrepreneur's backing of President Donald Trump, support for right-wing populists in Europe, and a long list of incendiary comments on X have transformed him from a broadly admired technology prodigy to a deeply polarizing figure in American public life.

Despite these concerns, the record IPO stands as a testament to Musk's continued support among investors and retail traders. Demand among retail investors, for whom 20% of shares were reserved, was reported to be high, suggesting that public enthusiasm for SpaceX's vision remains strong even as the company faces the challenge of delivering on extraordinary promises.