Valuation anchored far more in future promise than present performance
SpaceX's IPO would be the largest ever, more than doubling Saudi Aramco's 2019 record of $29.4 billion and positioning the company among the world's ten most valuable firms. Starlink satellite communications generates 61% of revenue and is the only profitable division; AI operations through xAI lose $6.4 billion annually despite $3.2 billion in revenue due to massive infrastructure investment.
- IPO planned for June 12, 2026, on Nasdaq under ticker SPCX
- $75 billion offering (potentially $86 billion with full greenshoe), valuing company at $1.78 trillion
- More than doubles Saudi Aramco's 2019 IPO record of $29.4 billion
- Starlink generates 61% of revenue and is only profitable division; AI operations lost $6.4 billion in 2025
- Musk controls 82.4% of voting rights and cannot sell shares for 366 days
SpaceX plans a record-breaking $75 billion IPO on June 12, 2026, potentially valuing the company at $1.78 trillion and making Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. The offering dwarfs previous records and reflects investor appetite for AI infrastructure and space technology.
SpaceX is preparing for what could be the largest initial public offering in history. On June 12, the aerospace and artificial intelligence conglomerate owned by Elon Musk plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, seeking to raise $75 billion through the sale of 555.6 million shares priced at $135 each. If underwriters exercise their full option to sell an additional 83.3 million shares, the total haul could reach $86 billion, valuing the company at $1.78 trillion and placing it among the ten most valuable corporations on Earth.
The scale of this offering is staggering. It would more than double the previous record set by Saudi Aramco's 2019 IPO, which raised $29.4 billion. Yet even this historic sum is not the largest capital raise in stock market history—Google recently completed a secondary offering of $85 billion during the artificial intelligence boom. Still, SpaceX's valuation ambition is extraordinary. If achieved, the company would rank above Meta and Tesla, cementing Musk's position as the world's first trillionaire.
The offering is being led by a syndicate of 23 banks, with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan at the helm. Unusually, Musk has requested that roughly 25 percent of shares be reserved for retail investors—a departure from typical practice. In Spain, individual investors can purchase shares through Santander, GVC Gaesco Valores, Renta 4 Banco, and online brokers including Revolut, Trade Republic, Interactive Brokers, and DeGiro. The retail tranche and a five percent allocation for employees and associates carry no lock-up restrictions, allowing immediate sales and introducing volatility risk. Existing shareholders face progressive release schedules, while Musk, who controls 82.4 percent of voting rights, cannot sell for 366 days. The banks will collect a historic commission of $500 million for their work.
The company's financials reveal a business in transition. In 2025, SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in revenue, up 33 percent year-over-year, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $6.6 billion. Yet the company posted net losses of $4.9 billion. This means SpaceX is seeking a valuation of more than 93 times annual sales—a multiple anchored far more in future promise than present performance. The company employs 22,000 people and holds $15.9 billion in cash against $29.1 billion in debt, with total assets of $102.1 billion.
Starlink, the satellite communications network, is the engine driving current profitability. It accounts for 61 percent of revenue and is the only division operating in the black, generating $4.4 billion in operating profit. The space launch segment—a near-global monopoly—contributes 22 percent of revenue through commercial and government contracts using the Falcon rocket and agreements with NASA. But this division recorded $657 million in operating losses as SpaceX accelerated investment in Starship, its next-generation reusable rocket, spending $3 billion on its development.
The losses stem largely from xAI, the artificial intelligence division that Musk integrated into SpaceX in February. This unit generated $3.2 billion in revenue but lost $6.4 billion, consumed by enormous infrastructure spending. In 2025 alone, AI operations accounted for $12.7 billion in capital expenditures—61 percent of the company's total capex. In the first quarter of 2026, that figure reached another $7.7 billion. The IPO proceeds will fund expansion of AI computing infrastructure, acceleration of Starship development, and expansion of the Starlink constellation. SpaceX is also obligated to repay a $20 billion bridge loan within six months, money that was used to refinance debts from X and xAI after their integration.
What Musk is selling is an ambitious vision of future business, centered on artificial intelligence. In the IPO prospectus, SpaceX quantifies its total addressable market in AI at $26.5 trillion—93 percent of the company's potential business opportunity. Goldman Sachs, the lead underwriter, projects that SpaceX's AI revenue could reach $322 billion by 2030, one hundred times current levels, representing 68 percent of total business by decade's end. The most visible path to this growth is renting capacity at Colossus, SpaceX's data center network. The company already holds contracts with Anthropic worth $15 billion annually and with Google, since October, worth $11 billion annually—guaranteeing more than $70 billion in AI revenue through 2029. Musk has also purchased Cursor, an AI-assisted programming tool, for $60 billion to attack the corporate market.
SpaceX argues that no competitor controls simultaneously a launch infrastructure, a global satellite constellation, and an AI business. Musk believes his competitive edge in the AI race—which demands enormous computing power—will come from orbital data centers powered by solar energy and connected to Earth through Starlink, circumventing the space and energy constraints that limit terrestrial facilities. Yet the prospectus acknowledges substantial risks: orbital data centers and interplanetary missions may prove unviable, delays or failures in Starship could derail multiple plans, and regulatory and legal challenges loom around Grok litigation. The company is also heavily dependent on Musk's leadership. The bylaws shield his control by stipulating he can be removed as president and chief executive only by a majority vote of Class B shares, of which he owns 91.6 percent.
Citas Notables
Goldman Sachs projects SpaceX's AI revenue could reach $322 billion by 2030, one hundred times current levels, representing 68 percent of total business by decade's end.— Goldman Sachs, lead underwriter
The prospectus acknowledges that orbital data centers and interplanetary missions could prove unviable and that delays or failures in Starship could compromise multiple plans.— SpaceX IPO prospectus
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a company losing billions on AI still command such a high valuation?
Because the market is pricing in what Goldman Sachs thinks could happen by 2030—AI revenue growing from $3 billion today to $322 billion. That's the bet. The losses now are infrastructure investment, not operational failure.
But those orbital data centers—the thing that supposedly gives SpaceX its edge—they don't exist yet, right?
Correct. They're in the prospectus as a future advantage, not a current one. Starship itself is still in development. So you're buying a company that's profitable in satellite communications but betting heavily on technology that may or may not work.
What happens if Starship fails or gets delayed significantly?
The prospectus actually flags this. Many of the growth plans depend on Starship. If it doesn't materialize on schedule, the whole AI infrastructure vision becomes much harder to execute. That's a structural risk.
And Musk can't sell his shares for a year?
Right. He's locked in for 366 days. But he controls 82.4 percent of voting rights through Class B shares, which means he can't be removed from leadership without his own consent. That's a governance risk—the company's future depends entirely on one person.
Is this IPO actually about raising capital, or is it about creating liquidity for existing investors?
Both. SpaceX needs the money for AI infrastructure and to repay a $20 billion bridge loan. But yes, it also creates a public market where early investors and employees can finally sell. The retail allocation Musk requested—25 percent—that's unusual and suggests he wants broad ownership, which could be about legitimacy or about spreading the risk.