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Die Aktien von SpaceX stiegen um 19% bei ihrem Börsendebüt.

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Elon Musk on 19 November 2025.Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images·Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Elon Musk is now the world’s first trillionaire. SpaceX’s historic debut on the stock market on Friday launched the CEO to unprecedented levels of wealth; his personal fortune now amounts to $1.1tn, an increase of more than $62 bn since the previous day, according to Forbes.

The rocket, satellite and AI company raised $75bn from its record-breaking initial public offering (IPO), and is now valued at $2.1tn after its first day of public trading.

Musk was already the world’s wealthiest person. In the days before SpaceX officially went public, his net worth hit $782bn, dropping by $50bn in one month due to a decline in Tesla’s share price, according to Forbes. However, the figure represents a huge leap from a decade ago, when the tech executive’s net worth hovered around $14bn – and an even bigger jump compared with 15 years earlier, when he was worth just $680m, according to Forbes.

It can be hard to conceptualize such exorbitant wealth. To drive home just how much money $1.1tn is: only about 21 countries’ yearly economic output exceeds $1tn. Even Musk’s birthplace isn’t part of that elite club; South Africa’s output of goods and service is closer to $480 bn. A trillion dollars is enough to buy 243bn gallons of gasoline. (That’s more than the nearly 137bn gallons Americans used last year.)

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SpaceX’s stock soared after its debut. At market close, at 4pm ET, its share price was $161, up 19% from its initial price of $135 per share. SpaceX had opened at $150 a share before peaking at $176 at midday.

The vast majority of Musk’s money is tied up in stocks and equity, and isn’t available as cash he can quickly spend. His portfolio of companies includes Tesla, the electric car maker, and xAI, the AI startup that was folded into SpaceX earlier this year.

Musk’s fortune is unprecedented, not just for its size but the speed at which it grew.

“If you look at a graph, it looks like a hockey stick. It’s only in 2020 that his personal net worth truly went bonkers,” says Quinn Slobodian, a history professor at Boston University and the author of Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Around 2020 was when Musk first became the world’s wealthiest person and Tesla the world’s most valuable car company.

“Musk has a proven track record in creating sectors out of nothing,” Slobodian says. There’s a sense to “never bet against Elon – he’ll always make you money”, he adds.

Musk’s AI gamble

A few months before SpaceX’s stock market debut, Musk wrapped his AI startup, xAI, into SpaceX in a record-breaking deal. SpaceX has proposed launching up to 1m datacenters into space, as part of its ultimate goal of establishing colonies on the moon and Mars.

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This lean into AI is what’s allowed Musk to claim such high valuation for SpaceX – because many investors now believe “AI is such a once-in-a-millennium opportunity that it merits these extravagant expectations”, says Mihir Desai, a professor at Harvard Business School. Desai says the space business alone wouldn’t have generated such excitement.

SpaceX is running up billions of dollars in losses, and its prospectus warns it may never become profitable. Many great businesses start off losing money but “the real question is how people come to believe that the future is so, so bright that those losses will not just turn into profits, but will turn into really massive profits”, Desai says. “That’s a story about not just SpaceX, but really about AI.”

Musk’s strong track record

Musk has won investor confidence through the stratospheric success of his previous endeavors, which faced serious doubts. (A $10,000 investment in Tesla on the day of its IPO, in 2010, would be worth more than $2m this year.)

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Desai describes Musk’s most loyal investors as belonging to a “financial cult” – and argues they believe he is “so damn brilliant that he’ll make it work even if the current product is crap and he has to spend a lot to get there”.

The AI portion of SpaceX lost $6.4bn last year – in part due to the cost of higher computing expenses for building and operating AI models. But investors may fear missing out more than they fear losses: “You don’t want to sit on the sidelines. And so even if you think it’s crazy, you have to play,” Desai says.

Musk is also able to consolidate his wealth through his continuing influence. He is not selling any of his shares in the SpaceX offering and will retain more than 82% of the company’s voting shares. That means it will be almost impossible to unseat him from the company, and he will be relatively insulated from shareholder pressure.

SpaceX’s IPO comes amid recent announcements by OpenAI and Anthropic that they are going public, although it’s unclear when exactly they will do so. All three companies’ fates are tied up with AI.

If the AI gamble doesn’t work out, “people are going to start to get cold feet and withdraw their investments”, Slobodian says. “This is not an ironclad fortune. We may see the world’s first trillionaire be the world’s first former trillionaire in a pretty short duration.”

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The SpaceX drama, however, is just beginning. SpaceX completed its record-setting IPO on Thursday, and it closed just under $161 on Friday, up 19% from the $135 IPO price, valuing Musk's rocket company at $2.1 trillion. Now investors have to brace for SpaceX to be included in the Nasdaq 100 inclusion, which should happen in two weeks.

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Turns out the SpaceX IPO didn't do much of anything to Tesla stock. Shares of Musk's EV maker rose 1.8% on Friday to close at $406.43, while shares of Musk's rocket company rose 19.2% to close at $160.95. There was significant concern that Tesla investors would sell their stock to buy SpaceX shares, putting downward pressure on Tesla's stock.

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(Bloomberg) -- When it comes to the interconnected companies of Elon Musk, Tesla Inc. is no longer the big man on campus.

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The $75 billion initial public offering of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, propelled the company's value above $2 trillion on Friday, surpassing Tesla's own 13-digit market capitalization of around $1.5 trillion.

Until this week, Tesla was essentially the only way for ordinary investors to include Musk's ventures in their portfolio. Now that SpaceX is publicly available, the company and its broad holdings — from artificial intelligence to space travel — have immediately turned into a more attractive alternative at a time when Tesla is bogged down by weak fundamentals and struggling car sales.

SpaceX stock jumped 19% in its trading debut, making Musk the world's first trillionaire. On its own first day on the public market in 2010, Tesla's shares rallied even more, some 41%. The stock has surged roughly 25,000% since then, compared with a 610% jump in the S&P 500. On Friday, though, it rose just a bit more than the broader market.

Retail flows into Tesla started strong this morning, but since SpaceX opened, "there's only been one stock on retail's radar," according to Vanda Research's Viraj Patel.

"AI is the new EV," he said, calling SpaceX "the new rockstar kid on the block."

Musk's ambitious vision, and Tesla's stock success over the past 16 years, have earned him a legion of retail investor acolytes. BNP Paribas analyst James Picariello estimated in April that the cohort owns 40% of Tesla's shares. Going into the IPO, retail investors had placed orders worth $100 billion for SpaceX shares.

Many Musk fans are hoping SpaceX sees similar, if not greater, growth than Tesla, given its broad ambitions. But SpaceX may end up plagued by the same valuation concerns that have faced Tesla for years.

"There's only about 15 companies that are worth a trillion dollars today," said Rand Millwood, investment advisor at Guardian Wealth Advisors. "If you look at those companies, most of them have been around for a long time. They're very successful, cash flow positive, all those kinds of things, and that's not SpaceX."

To avoid dividing investor attention, some analysts think a merger between the two firms could be coming. Both ventures see overlapping use cases in AI, robotics, and mobility — and a leader who has a habit of unorthodox corporate dealmaking.

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Millwood, though, said that it's possible that having multiple publicly traded Musk ventures will create a rising tide for both.

"There's so much of a tie-in across all of the Elon companies," Millwood said. "People think he's the genius of our time, which he may be to some extent, so anything he's involved in, they're going to want to be a part of."

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SpaceX shares rocketed after Elon Musk kicked off the biggest stock market listing in history, valuing the company at more than $2 trillion.

The rocket company's stock surged by 25pc when it began trading on the Nasdaq in New York after successfully raising $75bn (£56bn) through its initial public offering (IPO).

Investors who were able to get hold of stock at the initial $135 price saw the company's shares leap to $169 in opening trading as they floated on public markets for the first time.

SpaceX's new valuation on Friday minted Mr Musk, its founder and chief executive, as the world's first trillionaire.

Thanks to his SpaceX stock and his shares in electric car business Tesla, Mr Musk's net worth now sits just north of $1tn.

As his colleagues rang the opening bell on the Nasdaq on Wall Street, Mr Musk said he had expected the company would fail, making an appearance via video link from the company's Starbase headquarters in Texas.

He said: "If people had told me this was going to happen, I was like: man you must be smoking some really good crack – cause I think this company is going to fail.

"I gave SpaceX less than a 10pc chance of succeeding at all. In fact I told people this: it is probably going to fail, but, you know, we should give it a try."

Demand for SpaceX shares far outstripped supply ahead of its listing, with retail investors alone placing bids for $100bn-worth.

British armchair investors secured 2.7 million of the 555 ‌million shares sold ahead of the listing, each valued at $135 - or £100.65 - for a total of £271m.

Some analysts have argued that SpaceX is vastly overvalued, with much of its potential tied up in "moonshot" projects such as launching AI data centres into orbit and mining on asteroids that may never succeed.

How you can still buy SpaceX shares – and if you should

08:29pm

Signing off...

Thanks for following our coverage of SpaceX's public float, which has turned Elon Musk into the world's first trillionaire.

The listing on the Nasdaq saw SpaceX's share price surge by over 30pc on its first day of trading.

SpaceX shares are currently up by almost 23pc, at prices of more than $165 per share.

Shares in the rocket making company initially started trading at $135 per share this morning.

The public listing has now turned Mr Musk into the world's first trillionaire.

08:15pm

US stocks rise as oil prices fall

America's leading stock indices all rose on Friday as oil prices fell on easing tensions between the US and Iran.

As of Friday afternoon, the S&P 500 was up 0.5pc, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8pc and the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.7pc.

Story Continues

Markets were boosted by Donald Trump's decision to call off planned strikes on Iran and his suggestions the war might soon come to an end.

It saw oil prices fall sharply to their lowest levels since March. Brent Crude prices fell by almost 4pc to around $87 a barrell.

08:05pm

Musk's trillionaire status prompts calls for wealth tax

Elon Musk's newfound status as a trillionaire has prompted calls for a wealth tax from leading Democratic Party politicians in the US.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Elizabeth Warren, the US Senator for Massachusetts, said: "We need a wealth tax."

"Elon Musk just became the world's first trillionaire. The typical American household would have to work more than 11 MILLION years to make Elon Musk's level of wealth," Ms Warren added.

In an email to his supporters, Ro Khanna, a Democrat Representative in Silicon Valley, said Musk's new financial position is a sign the economy is "rigged".

"It's a sign the system is rigged," Mr Khanna said.

07:28pm

SpaceX bankers to receive fees worth $500m

Bankers working on SpaceX's public float will be paid $500m in fees, according to a filing from the rocket making company.

In a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, SpaceX revealed a sum of $500m will be available to the advisors who worked on the listing.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the two lead banks on the initial public offering, will take roughly 40pc of all fees, equivalent to $100m each, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Banks including JP Morgan and Citigroup will share the remaining $300m worth of fees between them.

06:52pm

Bernie Sanders calls for higher taxes as Elon Musk becomes world's first trillionaire

Bernie Sanders, the United States senator for Vermont, has said Elon Musk's new status as the world's first trillionaire shows the "absurdity" of US limits on social security payments.

Mr Sanders said: "Today, Elon Musk, a trillionaire, pays the same amount into Social Security as someone making $184,500."

"If we end that absurdity and lift the cap on taxable income, we can make Social Security solvent for 75 years and expand benefits by $2,400. My Social Security bill does that."

In the US, taxpayers must only pay social security tax on the first $184,500 they earn, at rates of 6.2pc for employees and 12.4pc for people who are self-employed.

06:49pm

Elon Musk celebrates "people of SpaceX"

Elon Musk has said "I love the incredible people of SpaceX" as the rocket maker's public float is set to turn hundreds of its staff into millionaires.

In a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Mr Musk said: "I love the incredible people of SpaceX beyond words."

Mr Musk's comment followed a retweet by the tech trillionaire of a separate post by market research firm Bull Theory, telling the story of a welder at SpaceX who has become a millionaire because of the float.

The retweeted post from Bull Theory said: "Juan Hernandez, who came from Mexico, welded rockets for SpaceX at $28 an hour."

"SpaceX gave him $10,000 in stock when he went full time in 2015, and he bought more with every paycheck for 10 years. $SPCX is now trading at $167, making his shares worth over $1 million."

Thousands of SpaceX's current and former staff are set to become millionaires due to the space exploration company's listing on the Nasdaq exchange.

06:19pm

SpaceX shares rise by 28pc

SpaceX shares have continued to rise on their first day of trading, extending their gains by over 28pc.

Shares in Elon Musk's rocket company hit highs of $172.90 each, from an initial price of $135 per share.

It marks a 28.1pc rise in the stock, since trading started at 11.46am in New York on Friday.

The surge in SpaceX's stock price throughout the day gives the company a market capitalisation of over $2trn.

05:55pm

$1bn of UK retail orders ahead of float

British investors placed orders around £750m of orders for SpaceX shares ahead of its float, although only ultimately secured about £271m in stock amid soaring demand.

A source familiar with the share sale confirmed that British buyers through retail trading apps placed orders of about $1bn (£750m), although high demand meant not all of these orders were filled in full.

05:44pm

Musk is a trillionaire - but for how long?

It's official. Elon Musk is a trillionaire, and SpaceX is a $2tn company.

But for how long?

Investors may remember Meta's IPO more than a decade ago, when it was still Facebook, which opened to great fanfare above its IPO price before tumbling by the end of the day. Still, Mark Zuckerberg's firm is valued around 1,400pc higher today than it was in 2012.

But that $1.5tn firm is making a profit today, unlike Musk's. In fact, SpaceX is famously burning through cash, although that's not to say a lossmaking company can't spin a profit.

Perhaps one of the maddest statistics is the implied price-to-sales ratio of its $135 IPO share price, which of course will be even greater now. The average S&P 500 firm trades at 3.5x; Tesla, Musk's first public venture, trades on 17x, which is considered rich for some; even Meta is at 22x.

SpaceX? 94x.

James will decode the SpaceX float on Monday – exclusively for subscribers to the Investor Newsletter. Sign up here.

05:26pm

Green shoes all round

The work is not done yet for SpaceX's many, many investment bankers.

SpaceX's float has raised $75bn in its public offering, but the company's financial advisers have the option to sell further shares in the business if there is appetite.

This so-called "greenshoe" option could see SpaceX up its total funding to as much as $86bn, if the banks take on the stock.

Based on posts shared by Mr Musk on X, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are confident they could go further.

05:08pm

Elon Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire

SpaceX's share price surge has minted Elon Musk as the world's first trillionaire.

Mr Musk has a stake of around 43pc in the rocket venture, which was valued at$2.1tn (£1.8tn)as markets opened, on top of his shares in Tesla and his other start-ups.

The share price jump on Friday means he is now worth around $1.1tn.

He holds roughly 15pc of Tesla's shares and multibillion-dollar stakes in his other businesses, including brain-chip start-up Neuralink and tunnelling outfit The Boring Company.

The 54-year-old's net worth surged above $500bn in October last year, the first person ever to be worth more than $500bn, and has more than doubled since.

04:57pm

SpaceX jumps above $2tn valuation

SpaceX has rocketed above a $2tn valuation as its shares climbed as high as $162 in early trading.

The share price at the opening of trading in the US mints Elon Musk as an official trillionaire and adds his rocket business to the ranks of the world's most valuable publicly trading companies.

Shares traded 20pc in early trading on the Nasdaq exchange after opening at $150 per share, above the listing price of $135.

Meanwhile, stock in Tesla dropped by around 2pc as fans of Mr Musk shifted into his new business.

04:48pm

SpaceX opens at $150 per share

SpaceX trading has opened at $150 per share, an 11pc jump on its listing price of $135.

04:45pm

Rival space stocks plummet as SpaceX hits markets

Space businesses that compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX have suffered a sharp sell-off since markets opened - despite surging earlier this week.

Shares in Virgin Galactic, Sir Richard Branson's space tourism venture, tumbled more than 30pc on Friday after enjoying a boost of more than 20pc just yesterday. Stock in Rocket Lab, whose launch vehicles compete with Mr Musk's Falcon 9, was down 8pc.

Firefly Aerospace, meanwhile, dropped by 14pc and AST Space Mobile, which competes with SpaceX's Starlink satellite network, fell 11pc.

Analysts have warned that SpaceX's float is "sucking the oxygen" out of the market as retail investors and funds sell down their stakes in other technology businesses in order to hoover up SpaceX's new stock.

However until now, many of these space businesses had ridden on SpaceX's coattails and surged higher in recent weeks thanks to renewed interest in the sector.

04:14pm

SpaceX excitement 'echoes dotcom boom and bust'

The hype around the SpaceX listing resonates with the fever that gripped markets before the dotcom bubble burst, an fund manager has warned.

Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Miton, said: "It's hard to know if the price of SpaceX getting off to an incredible start is a good thing or a bad thing.

"Investors could get sucked in at high levels but FOMO is a strong emotion and index buyers have little choice.

"These IPOs do resonate with the dotcom boom and bust more than anything else I've seen in this cycle."

04:02pm

Why investors are waiting to find out SpaceX's share price

The most hotly anticipated event in markets is under way. Even people who don't know their Isa from their ETF have asked me about the SpaceX IPO, such is the cut-through of a man like Musk.

History's biggest IPO, the world's first trillionaire, there's plenty to get excited about. But those same people have started badgering me for another reason.

Why is nothing happening?

Even though this launch has broken all the records (and fiddled with some of the rules), markets still need to set a price.

Yes, the much-touted $135 per share seems to have been met, but what's it worth now? $160? $170? $180?

Answering that question is what's going on right now, and it's known as an opening auction period. It's been running for about 90 minutes but could go on for hours. Essentially, banks, market makers and underwriters are filling orders, and until a reasonable price has been found, it won't go live.

I can't tell you when that'll happen, but it will happen today.

James will decode the SpaceX float on Monday – exclusively for subscribers to the Investor Newsletter. Sign up here.

03:49pm

'Atmosphere electric' as traders wait to see SpaceX price

Global investors are glued to their screens waiting to see what price SpaceX shares will begin trading at on Wall Street.

The latest reports suggest the shares will surge from the $135 initial public offering (IPO) to around $166, which would be enough to make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

That is down from initial reports of a pop to $175 per share, but that has not stopped traders felling the excitement in New York.

R.J. Grant, global head of equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus told Bloomberg: "The atmosphere is electric! It feels just like it does when tip off is kicking off for a Knicks playoff game.

"It's like the calm before the storm. It's also interns and new hire season as we get into the summer so there's a lot of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, young people captivated by all of this. It's going to get busy, so I may have to run across the street to Shake Shack later to buy the trading desk lunch."

03:40pm

Pictured: SpaceX fever sweeps Times SquarePeople gather to watch Elon Musk on the day of SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) - Jeenah Moon/REUTERSA giant billboard shows a SpaceX rocket launch at the Nasdaq MarketSite - REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

03:33pm

Record IPO 'drew $350bn in demand'

SpaceX's record initial public offering is thought to have drawn $350bn worth of demand, according to Bloomberg.

It sold 555.6m shares at $135 each, raising $75bn, and the price is expected to surge to around $175 when trading begins shortly.

That would mean its valuation soars from an $1.8 trillion to well over $2 trillion.

03:26pm

SpaceX poised to blow past $2 trillion valuation

SpaceX would be worth more than $2 trillion if its shares surge as expected when they start trading.

The Nasdaq has said shares will start changing hands shortly, with analysts predicting the price will leap from $135 in the IPO to $175.

That would easily make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

03:16pm

Video: SpaceX rings opening bell on Nasdaq

03:11pm

US stocks lack direction before SpaceX IPO

Wall Street opened mixed with SpaceX set to begin trading following world's largest initial public offering.

SpaceX has priced more than 555 million shares at $135 each in a filing with the US markets regulator on Thursday.

Shares are expected to surge to $175, a leap of 30pc. The move would make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

The Nasdaq was up 0.1pc but the S&P 500 was down 0.3pc. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 0.4pc.

03:06pm

SpaceX expected to surge 30pc

SpaceX shares are expected to rocket when they began trading on the Nasdaq for the first time, making Elon Musk a trillionaire.

The company's share price is predicted to climb by 29pc from $135 to $175 when they become publicly available for the first tiem, according to Bloomberg.

02:57pm

British investment windfall on SpaceX float

Investment trusts managed by Scottish fund manager Baillie Gifford have enjoyed a multi-billion pound windfall from SpaceX's record breaking float.

Funds including the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Edinburgh Worldwide and Baillie Gifford US Growth have all soared on the back of the SpaceX float.

Baillie Gifford said that Scottish Mortgage invested around £151m in SpaceX, which is now valued at close to £3.8bn, around 25 times the capital invested.

Edinburgh Worldwide invested £9.1m in SpaceX, now valued at £222.2m. Baillie Gifford US Growth, the Schiehallion and Monks Investment Trust have all seen huge windfalls from small investments in the rocket giant.

02:52pm

Pictured: Shotwell rings opening bell at Nasdaq

Elon Musk's key lieutenant Gwtnne Shotwell celebrated as she rang the opening bell to launch the SpaceX IPO on the Nasdaq.

The shares are expected to open 29pc above the $135 offer price, according to Bloomberg.SpaceX chief financial officer Bret Johnsen, centre and president Gwynne Shotwell, centre right, celebrate as they ring the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite - TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images

02:48pm

Musk thought SpaceX would fail

Elon Musk said he gave SpaceX a 10pc chance of succeeding as the company prepares to begin trading shares publicly on the Nasdaq.

To cheers from his colleagues surrounding him at SpaceX's headquarters in Starbase, Texas, Mr Musk said: "It is certainly hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is now going public for the largest IPO ever.

"If people had told me this was going to happen, I was like: man you must be smoking some really good crack – cause I think this company is going to fail.

"I gave SpaceX less than a 10pc chance of succeeding at all. In fact I tell people this: it is probably going to fail, but we should give it a try."

Other companies were not pursuing rockets to "make Star Trek" and to "take the fiction out of science fiction".

He said: "We want to be able to take anyone who wants to go to the Moon or wants to go to Mars, or anywhere in the Solar System, and maybe beyond the Solar System at some point, we want to be able to take you there. Not just a few astronauts – you, literally you.

"I am confident at this point that with the incredible team that we have here at SpaceX that we will do that for you.

"There are always problems on Earth there are always things we wish to be better. But there also have to be things that get you excited about the future. That make you glad to wake up in the morning. Because you cannot wait to see what happens next. That is the future that SpaceX wants to bring to you."

02:39pm

Pictured: Elon Musk 'rings opening bell'

Elon Musk has "rung the opening bell" on the Nasdaq as he appeared via video link in New York for the initial public offering of SpaceX.Elon Musk 'rang the opening' bell on the Nasdaq to mark the SpaceX IPO - Spencer Platt/Getty Images

02:33pm

Nasdaq falls at the open

The Nasdaq has dropped at the opening bell as the shares of SpaceX prepare to start trading for the first time.

The tech-heavy index was fell 0.1pc to 25,775.40, while the benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.1pc to 7,403.40.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened up 0.5pc to 51,118.41.

SpaceX shares are expected to start trading soon.

02:25pm

'We're not focused on earnings', says SpaceX president

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell – one of Elon Musk's longest serving lieutenants – has warned investors in the rocket company that it will not be focused on "quarterly earnings" as it raises tens of billions of dollars for future space missions.

Speaking on CNBC today, Ms Shotwell said: "I do not want to focus on quarterly earnings. I'm not saying we're not going to do right by our investors, but what folks who invest in SpaceX need to know is what we're doing is very futuristic."

The rocket company has so far burned through more than $40bn since it was founded and its losses are expected to mount as Mr Musk ploughs tens of billions of dollars into AI and its Starship megarocket.

Becoming a public company will subject SpaceX to heightened scrutiny. Mr Musk had previously kept the business private to focus on his ambitious goals, such as reaching Mars.

However, Ms Shotwell said the company wanted to provide the opportunity for ordinary savers to own a chunk of the business.

"We've been feeling over the last few years a lot of pressure from everyday Americans and our friends that wanted to buy stock, and there was just no way for these folks to get in."Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, poses for photos before the ringing of the opening bell at the Nasdaq Marketsite - Spencer Platt/Getty Images

02:15pm

Pictured: SpaceX finance chief arrives

Bret Johnsen, the chief financial officer of SpaceX, has appeared in New York.

People are also gathering outside the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square.Bret Johnsen, the SpaceX CFO and president of strategic acquisitions, second left, arrives at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square - REUTERS/David Dee DelgadoPeople gather outside on the day of SpaceX's initial public offering - REUTERS/David Dee Delgado

02:11pm

SpaceX launches rocket hour before Wall Street listing

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket loaded with Starlink satellites less than an hour before Elon Musk's company lifts off for the largest IPO in history on Wall Street.

"Go SpaceX, go Starlink to all SpaceXers, new and old. Let's see what's out there. Occupy Mars!" a SpaceX official said in a live feed of the launch from Cape Canaveral, on Florida's east coast.

The rocket was carrying 29 Starlink internet satellites, destined to join an existing network of more than 10,000 satellites.

The Falcon 9 has now completed more than 600 flights, making it the workhorse of the commercial and military satellite launch industry.SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites - CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images

02:08pm

Retail investors 'secured 20pc of SpaceX IPO'

Individual investors reportedly secured 20pc of the shares sold in the SpaceX IPO, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Usually, retail investors receive a share of 5pc to 10pc of major listings.

It signals Elon Musk set aside a larger than usual chunk of the 555.6 million shares sold for his legion of fans, priced at $135 each.

01:57pm

When does Musk become a trillionaire?

Elon Musk will become a trillionaire if SpaceX stock rises by just 2.2pc on its first day of trading.

SpaceX shares have been priced at $135 in the company's initial public offering, and a rise to $138 would get Mr Musk to the historic landmark given the scale of his holdings.

01:46pm

Record IPOs signal AI rally 'entering final stages'

The wave of blockbuster listings this year will be a major test for stock markets already setting record highs, economists have warned.

Capital Economics warned that major new listings like SpaceX tend to pick up when market booms enter their final stages.

As investors struggle to buy up all the shares available, it risks pushing wider share prices lower, the consultancy warned.

The listings of SpaceX and AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to make 2026 a record year for IPOs.

Markets economist Joe Maher said: "Not only is booming share issuance a sign speculation is reaching fever pitch, but rising supply may also overwhelm investor demand and help to push stock prices lower."

He added: "Recent history suggests surging share issuance tends to be a sign that the end to an equity boom is a matter of months not years away.

"After all, gross issuance surged towards the end of the last three major equity booms and peaked broadly in line with the stock market on those occasions. With share issuance booming once again, the AI-driven equity rally may well be entering its final stages."

01:30pm

Pictured: Maye Musk arrives at Nasdaq

Elon Musk's mother Maye has arrived at the Nasdaq as her son's rocket company SpaceX prepares for its first day of trading, which will likely make him the world's first trillionaire.Maye Musk arrives at the Nasdaq ahead of SpaceX's IPO - REUTERS/David Dee Delgado

01:16pm

UK 'already reliant' on SpaceX

Britain is dependent on SpaceX and its listing on Wall Street will make this more visible, a tech analyst has said.

James Bull of RSM UK said the UK is already "operationally, financially and strategically exposed" to SpaceX.

Britain is reliant on its satellite network Starlink, which accounts for 61pc of the company's $18.7bn of revenues last year, he said.

Pensions are also exposed, as are Britain's hopes for AI infrastructure.

He said: "The UK is not just reliant on SpaceX for satellite communications and launch capacity, but increasingly for the AI compute infrastructure that underpins the next generation of our digital services.

"Savers are exposed too, whether they choose it or not. Pension funds and ISA investors in passive index funds are likely to find themselves holding SpaceX shares automatically once the stock begins trading.

"The strategic dependency runs deeper, as the UK military has reportedly begun using Starshield (SpaceX's militarised satellite network) for operational communications, with little debate on what this means for our sovereign infrastructure.

"This comes at a particularly sensitive moment, given yesterday's resignation of the Defence Secretary over funding constraints."

He added: "The bigger picture is that space is quickly becoming critical national infrastructure, and currently the UK's position is being shaped by decisions made in California rather than Westminster."

12:55pm

SpaceX could create a new generation of 'Sids' – or leave them out of pocket

When Margaret Thatcher privatised British Gas, the frenzy over the "Tell Sid" campaign meant that more than one million people decided to buy shares and became stock market investors overnight.

It set up decades of interest from Britons keen to take a wager on the stock market and helped bring the inner workings of the City money men to the British public.

Now, a similar frenzy could be about to engulf a new generation of UK stock pickers when Elon Musk's SpaceX floats on the stock market.

But many are sceptical of its stock market returns.Elon Musk is giving his legions of followers the chance to invest in his company - REUTERS/Adrees Latif

12:46pm

Wall Street poised to jump on SpaceX debut

US stock markets are on track to rise at the opening bell as SpaceX prepares for its shares to be publicly traded for the first time.

Wall Street rallied in premarket trading as Donald Trump suggested a deal to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be signed this weekend.

It provides a solid backdrop for SpaceX to start trading on the Nasdaq for the first time.

It is likely to be immediately ranked as the seventh biggest publicly listed US company, with a potential valuation of around $1.8 trillion.

Mark Boggett, chief executive of space investment firm Seraphim Space, said: "A SpaceX IPO is a landmark moment for the space economy.

"More than simply attracting additional venture capital, it would further establish space as a mainstream investment category and provide public market investors with a highly visible benchmark for the sector's potential."

12:07pm

'Musk has the midas touch'

SpaceX shares are a "risky bet", according to Telegraph readers, although many say they admire Elon Musk for his "business creating ability".

Here are some comments from readers who have taken part in the IPO and you can join the debate here.

11:47am

Rival space stocks zoom ahead of record float

Rivals to Elon Musk's SpaceX are soaring in pre-market trading in the US as traders seek to capitalise on the interest in space exploration.

Shares in Virgin Galactic, Sir Richard Branson's space tourism venture, jumped 21pc yesterday and were up 5pc in pre-market trading.

Rocket Lab, a New Zealand founded launch business, saw its shares jump 9pc yesterday and they climbed a further 6pc before markets opened in the US.

Meanwhile, satellite communications business AST Space Mobile was up 11.7pc yesterday while Earth observation company Planet was up 11.2pc.

In London, specialist space investor the Seraphim Space Investment Trust was trading up more than 4pc.

11:35am

Public warned over stock market rule changes

Retail investors risk being the "victim" of changes to rules linked to the SpaceX IPO, chief investment officer of one of Britain's biggest fund managers has warned.

Piers Hillier, the chief investment officer at Jupiter Asset Management, said he was concerned by the decision by some popular indices to change their rules to fast-track the inclusion of SpaceX following its IPO.

Mr Hillier said that, given SpaceX's uncertain valuation, the move could undermine the millions of retail traders who invest in popular indices like the Nasdaq 100.

SpaceX will be eligible for inclusion in the Nasdaq after just 15 days of trading, meaning funds like ETF, which aim to represent the whole of a stock market, will quickly be forced to buy shares in the company.

"It just worries me a little bit with that auto index allocation. Retail investors unfortunately tend to be the victims of this if we're not careful," Mr Hillier said.

"[Indices] take the last price of the day. That's what they want. They don't set the price. What worries me slightly from a retail investor perspective is that we don't really know what the company's worth. "

Analysts at BNP Paribas estimate a combined $16.2bn of passive buying across a number of popular indices will happen within the first 15 days after SpaceX lists. Mr Hillier added that the uncertainty of SpaceX's valuation, given the heavy weighting given to Elon Musk's AI challenger, Grok, only added to concerns.

"I'm not saying that SpaceX is necessarily a bad business," he said. "I certainly think Starlink has been amazing but I worry when you fold in businesses like X and then you just add an AI tag to that you're putting conceptual valuations in against fundamental businesses."

11:32am

SpaceX 'sucks oxygen' out of the stock market

The unprecedented size of SpaceX's float has "sucked the oxygen" from the rest of the stock market, as other technology stocks dip and rivals hold off launching public offerings.

Samuel Kerr, an analyst at Mergermarket, said other large listings had been put on pause to avoid clashing with SpaceX's $1.8tn deal.

The record float "seems to have sucked out quite a lot of oxygen from the rest of the market," he said.

"Other large IPO issuers have tried to avoid coming to market at the same time as SpaceX, and there does seem to have been some selling in other large US tech names to make room for SpaceX shares.

"The IPOs of OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which will also be sizeable, will possibly cause even more selling of other stocks and other possible IPO candidates to push back their deals to next year."

SpaceX is also expected to be quickly included in major stock indices, meaning that passive index-linked funds and so-called ETFs will end up having to buy shares in the rocket giant, sucking liquidity away from alternative companies.

Analysts at Vanda said this week that at least some of the sell-off in US technology stocks across markets in recent days appears to have been driven by retail traders cashing in their shares in anticipation of buying into SpaceX's listing.

11:11am

Elon Musk set to become world's first trillionaire

SpaceX chief Elon Musk is poised to become the world's first trillionaire when the company begins trading later today.

The company's $1.8tn public listing should put him within touching distance of a trillion-dollars in net worth.

According to Forbes, Musk's net worth is now around $982bn following the final pricing of SpaceX's float.

Its shares need to rise by just a few dollars to propel him above $1tn.

According to Reuters using a different methodology, he has already eclipsed $1tn thanks to his extra share options in Tesla.

The SpaceX deal has also awarded Musk a further pay incentive if he can build a colony on Mars. That bonus is worth an additional hundreds of billions of dollars.

10:55am

SpaceX valuation soars in 'grey market' deals

While formally valued at $135 per share ahead of today's public listing, crypto traders and speculators on prediction markets are betting that SpaceX's market value will blast through $2tn when it goes public later today.

Derivatives and crypto-linked contracts were trading as much as 50pc above the listing price on Friday morning on crytocurrency trading apps and prediction websites favoured by speculators.

On the Hyperliquid cryptocurrency app, so-called SpaceX-linked "perpetual" futures were trading at around $180 per share, implying an overall valuation of $2.3tn, nearly 35pc higher than the actual float pricing.

These contracts are linked to guesses about the future stock price of SpaceX.

More than $214m has been traded by crypto speculators on this contract alone. These crypto-tied contracts are loosely regulated and the Financial Conduct Authority has said they are not authorised in the UK.

Elsewhere, punters on offshore prediction markets have forecast SpaceX's shares will spike in opening trading later today. Prediction apps such as Polymarket have surged in popularity as a way to bet on financial events.

Punters on Polymarket have forecast that SpaceX will close on Friday at a valuation of $2.2tn. Around 73pc of traders have bet it will end with a value above $2tn.

10:37am

British investors get slice of SpaceX in £75bn scramble for shares

British armchair investors have scooped up £270m of shares in Elon Musk's record-setting SpaceX market listing as part of a global £75bn scramble to get a slice of the business.

Amateur investors around the world attempted to buy more than more than $100bn (£75bn) of SpaceX shares before the rocket company's $1.8tn stock market debut on Friday.

The size of the demand from everyday investors far outstripped the total share offering from SpaceX, which on Thursday night confirmed it had sold $75bn of stock in the deal.SpaceX confirmed it had sold more than $75bn in stock as part of its initial public offering - SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images

10:16am

Good morning

Here we are then, on the cusp of the largest public listing in history.

SpaceX will launch on the Nasdaq later today after raising $75bn (£56bn) in its initial public offering.

When the rocket company floats later, it is on track to make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

To mark the occasion, a giant inflatable figure of the controversial entrepreneur, who is also the boss of Tesla, has appeared in Times Square in New York ahead of the listing.

Protesters have accused Mr Musk's xAI, which is behind the Grok chatbot, of being used to create "child porn".

The company faces a lawsuit in California from teenagers who say the company allowed the creation of sexually explicit images of them.

X said that it had introduced measures to halt Grok creating images that undress people.A giant inflatable Elon Musk has appeared in Times Square - OLGA FEDOROVA/EPA/ShutterstockThe float of SpaceX in New York will be the biggest public listing on markets in history - OLGA FEDOROVA/EPA/Shutterstock

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Haftungsausschluss: Der Text wurde mit Hilfe einer KI zusammengefasst und übersetzt. Für Aussagen aus dem Originaltext wird keine Haftung übernommen!

Gwynne Shotwell, president of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), during the company's initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Friday, June 12, 2026. SpaceX has made history with the biggest-ever IPO, launching it into the top ranks of the largest public companies and putting founder Elon Musk on the verge of becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg | Image Credits:Michael Nagle/Bloomberg / Getty Images

All eyes are on the SpaceX IPO — the world’s largest in history — and its CEO Elon Musk. But lest you forget, there is another publicly traded company in the Musk universe that many believe will someday merge with SpaceX.

We’re talking about Tesla, which has a current market cap of about $1.26 trillion. Musk, who also leads Tesla, has pitched it as an AI and robotics company, even though the bulk of its revenue still comes from selling EVs. Some see a merger with SpaceX as a critical step to achieving that vision.

SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell seems open to the idea. During an interview with CNBC, Shotwell said a merger  “might make Elon’s life a little easier.”

There is evidence that SpaceX is already preparing for one. The company amended its S-1 registration document ahead of its public debut to include new language in its risk factors section about mergers and acquisitions. The added sentence, which reads “We may issue a significant amount of equity in connection with future transactions,” is a warning to investors of future dilution. A warning like that wouldn’t be necessary for a small-scale deal; it likely means Tesla.

As a reminder, Musk is quite comfortable bringing the disparate pieces of his portfolio together. SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI company, xAI, earlier this year. And xAI acquired Musk’s social media company, X, in an all-stock transaction the year before.

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire on Friday after SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) surged in its Nasdaq debut, lifting the value of his holdings in the aerospace and satellite communications company.

SpaceX shares were indicated to open sharply above their $135 offering price after the company completed what is considered the largest initial public offering on record. Early trading estimates suggested the stock could begin trading near $175, implying a market capitalization approaching $2.3 trillion.

Is SPCX fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator.

Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002, remains the company's controlling shareholder. The increase in SpaceX's valuation added substantially to Musk's net worth, which also includes significant stakes in Tesla (TSLA) and several privately held ventures.

SpaceX raised roughly $75 billion through the offering after selling 555.56 million shares. The company operates launch services and the Starlink satellite internet network, which serves customers across more than 160 countries and territories and generates a large share of SpaceX's revenue.

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The march of trillicorn initial public offerings doesn’t portend doom for investors. But it’s worth keeping an eye on just the same.

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Quick Read

Tesla (TSLA) and Caterpillar (CAT) joined 184 companies relocating to Texas, which generated roughly a fifth of all net new U.S. jobs since 2020. A standalone Texas Stock Exchange launches this summer, with Trump's own social media venture being the first listing on NYSE's new Texas branch. Texas will build two-fifths of all U.S. utility-scale solar this year, anchoring a data center buildout powered by cheap ERCOT generation and abundant land. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Caterpillar didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.

On a recent Diet TBPN segment, co-host John Coogan read at length from an Economist piece making a striking claim about where corporate America now lives. The thesis, quoted directly: "Texas is steadily establishing itself as America Inc.'s new center of gravity. No state receives more business investment or is adding more people to its population." For investors, the implication is that Texas may offer some of the most compelling long-term opportunities in the country, as companies, workers, and investment dollars continue to concentrate there.Sean Pavone / iStock via Getty Images

The Headquarters Migration Is Real

The numbers cited in the segment are notable. From 2020 to 2025, at least 184 companies moved their headquarters to Texas, including Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT). The state created roughly a fifth of all net new U.S. jobs during that period. Recently, ExxonMobil's (NYSE:XOM) shareholder-approved reincorporation from New Jersey to Texas was a symbolic move for a company that has been physically based in the Dallas area for years.

Some of these drivers are structural. The Tax Foundation's 2025 State Tax Competitiveness Index ranks Texas 7th overall, with a No. 1 ranking for individual income tax (the state has none). Meanwhile, New York ranks 50th, and California ranks 48th.

Cost of living also reinforces the gap. Texas sits at a regional price parity of 97.057, below the national average of 100, against New York at 107.921 and California at 110.72. For executives modeling payroll and real estate expenses, that 10-13-point spread compounds quickly.

Energy and Data Centers: The Next Layer

The relocation story has moved beyond tax arbitrage. Texas's energy dominance is now fueling an AI-era infrastructure boom. The state is expected to build two-fifths of all utility-scale solar in America this year, and that generation is feeding a data center buildout that increasingly defines where hyperscale compute will live. Large-scale solar, battery storage, and natural gas projects across Texas appear repeatedly in the EIA's May 2026 Electric Power Monthly construction pipeline, including the 350-MW Chillingham Solar, 240-MW Cattlemen Solar Park, and the 200-MW Destiny Storage project.

Story Continues

That matters because the United States houses roughly 45% of global data centers, with approximately 4,000 facilities located primarily in Virginia, Texas, and California. Data centers grew from 1.9% of total U.S. electricity consumption in 2018 to 4.4% in 2023, with projections of 6.7-12% by 2028. Texas owns generation and transmission flexibility through ERCOT, and the land to host hyperscale campuses.

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A Texas Stock Exchange Adds Financial Infrastructure

The most visible sign of Texas' growing influence may be happening in the capital markets. A standalone Texas Stock Exchange is set to launch this summer, joining existing NYSE and NASDAQ operations in the state. As Coogan noted, the development highlights how Texas is becoming a larger player in finance, not just energy and technology.

Donald Trump called the Texas Stock Exchange "an unbelievably bad thing for his hometown of New York," referring to how New York could lose some competitiveness as America's financial hub. Trump's own social media venture was the first business to list on the NYSE's new Texas branch.

The broader economic backdrop helps explain why companies continue to migrate south. Corporate profits reached a record $4.4 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, while growth in the finance and insurance sector pushed the industry to more than 8% of U.S. GDP. At the same time, economic growth has slowed, with real GDP expanding just 1.6% in the first quarter. In a slower-growth environment, factors like taxes, regulation, labor availability, and operating costs can play a larger role in where companies choose to invest and expand. Texas has increasingly positioned itself to benefit from those decisions.

Key Takeaways

Texas's rise now extends well beyond remote workers chasing zero income tax. Business investment, population growth, jobs, energy generation, and now market infrastructure are all adding up to make Texas look poised for a bright future. Housing starts at a 1.465 million annualized pace in April 2026 hint that construction is keeping up.

For investors, the key question is where this trend creates opportunities. Areas that could benefit include Texas-focused real estate, utilities and powerproviders, energy infrastructure companies, and data center operators. If more businesses, workers, and capital continue moving to Texas, those sectors could see outsized growth in the years ahead.

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