SpaceX began trading on US stock markets on Friday with a valuation exceeding $2 trillion, making chief executive Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire and placing the aerospace company among the largest publicly traded firms in the United States.
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The company’s shares opened at $150, up 11% from the initial public offering (IPO) price of $135. The opening price gave SpaceX a market value of about $1.96 trillion, putting it on course to become the sixth-largest listed company in the country.
By the first hour of trading, shares under the ticker symbol SPCX had climbed further to $164.99.
Strong Demand for Shares
SpaceX raised $75 billion through the offering, initially valuing the company at $1.77 trillion. Demand for the IPO was particularly strong, with orders reportedly exceeding the available shares by four times.
According to reports, around 70% of shares allocated to institutional investors went to long-term investment funds and sovereign wealth funds, including investors from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City as trading commenced.
Delayed Trading and Protests
Despite the strong interest, shares did not begin changing hands immediately after markets opened. Exchange operators and underwriters delayed trading until buy and sell orders could be balanced, a precaution aimed at ensuring an orderly debut.
The launch was also accompanied by protests outside the Nasdaq MarketSite. Demonstrators voiced concerns over allegations involving Grok, an artificial intelligence product developed by xAI, which critics claim enabled the creation of non-consensual sexualised deepfake images before the IPO.
Market participants were particularly focused on avoiding the technical problems that affected the public debut of Meta Platforms in 2012.
Test for Future Mega-Listings
Analysts said investors were closely watching the offering as a gauge of demand for future high-profile technology flotations.
Samuel Kerr, global head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket, said expectations were for a sharp rise in the share price due to strong investor enthusiasm surrounding the deal.
The listing is also being viewed as a benchmark for planned public offerings by major artificial intelligence companies, including Anthropic and OpenAI.
Revenue Growth Driven by Starlink
The public debut further strengthened Musk’s position among the world’s wealthiest individuals and pushed SpaceX into the ranks of the most valuable companies globally.
The achievement comes despite the company reporting a loss of nearly $5 billion last year and generating significantly less revenue than many technology firms with comparable market valuations.
Much of SpaceX’s recent growth has been driven by its satellite internet business, Starlink, which accounts for roughly 80% of company revenue.
Separately on Friday, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 29 satellites from Cape Canaveral, underscoring the company’s continued expansion in the commercial space sector.
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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 13 June 2026
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