A SpaceXElon Musk’s aerospace company, debuted on the stock exchange this Friday (12) with the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history. The financial movement must consolidate the entrepreneur as the world’s first trillionaire.
In a document sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company priced more than 555 million shares at US$135 each. With this, Space X achieves a market value of almost US$1.8 trillion (approximately R$9 trillion), surpassing giants such as Tesla, Meta and Walmart, and ensuring its place in the “top 10” of Wall Street.
A operation should raise more than US$75 billioneasily surpassing the previous record set by the oil company Saudi Aramco, which raised US$29.4 billion in 2019. If the additional share options are exercised, the total could exceed US$86 billion.
Technology conglomerate
Founded in 2002 as a foguetes startupSpaceX has evolved into a complex ecosystem. Under the trading code “SPCX”, the new conglomerate combines the Starlink satellite operation with xAI — Musk’s artificial intelligence arm — and the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
A SpaceX’s IPO leads a new wave of tech giants targeting the stock marketanticipating the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic.
The IPO occurs at a time of intense exposure for Musk. Recently, the businessman ended his collaboration with Donald Trump’s government, where he led an initiative to cut public spending, while also managing Tesla and SpaceX.
Although his political alignment and controversial statements have made him a popular figure, the success of the IPO demonstrates the unshakable confidence of investors. According to Bloomberg, demand for shares was four times greater than the available supply, with strong demand also from small investors.
Risks
Despite the optimism, Wall Street analysts remain certain caution. The company’s astronomical valuation depends on the completion of projects that border on science fiction, such as:
- The installation of data centers in space;
- Transporting humans to Mars with technologies still being tested;
- The massive expansion of the Starlink network;
Financially, SpaceX is growing fast — with forecasted revenue of US$ 18.7 billion for 2025 – but still operates in the red. In the last period, it recorded net loss of US$4.9 billionreflection of high investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
“Our horizons are long term. What we are doing is futuristic,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, in an interview with CNBC, minimizing the pressure for immediate quarterly results.
Social impact
Entry into the exchange must create thousands of new millionaires among employees and longtime investors. However, the concentration of wealth in Musk’s hands generates criticism. With an estimated fortune of US$782 billion before the IPO – almost triple that of second place in the Forbes ranking – Musk could reach the unprecedented mark of US$1 trillion.
For Nabil Ahmed, director of Oxfam America, such accumulation is “incompatible with a healthy democracy”. On the eve of the debut, protesters protested in New York against the company’s use of AI tools to create deepfake content, signaling that Musk’s challenges in the stock market will go far beyond financial numbers.
