Musk wants to raise capital while keeping absolute control
En los mercados financieros, donde el tamaño de una empresa refleja no solo su valor económico sino también la ambición humana de dominar nuevas fronteras, SpaceX se prepara para debutar en el Nasdaq con una valoración de 1,77 billones de dólares, superando el récord histórico de Saudi Aramco y situándose entre las diez corporaciones más valiosas del planeta. Elon Musk ha diseñado una estructura accionarial que le permite captar capital del mundo sin ceder el timón de su visión espacial. Lo que resulta igualmente significativo es que, por primera vez, inversores minoristas europeos tendrán acceso real a una oferta de esta magnitud, señalando un cambio silencioso pero profundo en quién puede participar en la construcción del futuro.
- SpaceX está a punto de protagonizar la mayor salida a bolsa de la historia, superando los 1,7 billones de Saudi Aramco y dejando muy atrás a gigantes como Alibaba o SoftBank.
- La estructura de doble clase de acciones garantiza que Musk conserve el 85,1% del poder de voto, lo que genera tensión entre quienes buscan influencia real y quienes solo podrán acceder a un flotante del 4%.
- La absorción de xAI y su modelo de lenguaje Grok añade una capa de complejidad estratégica al relato de la empresa, fusionando el espacio, internet satelital y la inteligencia artificial bajo un mismo techo bursátil.
- El interés minorista en Europa es inusualmente alto, con plataformas como Revolut, Trade Republic y Santander abriendo el acceso a una oferta que históricamente habría sido inalcanzable para el inversor común.
- La tendencia apunta hacia una democratización progresiva de los grandes IPOs estadounidenses, con reguladores y empresas construyendo puentes hacia mercados que antes permanecían excluidos.
SpaceX está a punto de convertirse en la empresa más cara en debutar en bolsa. Con una valoración prevista de 1,77 billones de dólares en el Nasdaq, superará el récord que Saudi Aramco estableció en diciembre de 2019, cuando alcanzó una capitalización de 1,7 billones. La distancia con otras grandes salidas a bolsa es abismal: Alibaba debutó con 231.000 millones y SoftBank con apenas 63.000 millones. Desde el primer día de cotización, SpaceX se situará por encima de empresas como Meta, Tesla o Inditex, solo por detrás de colosos como Nvidia, Apple o Alphabet.
Musk ha diseñado la operación para no perder el control. La compañía opera con dos clases de acciones: las de clase A otorgan un voto por título, mientras que las de clase B otorgan diez. Musk concentra el 93,6% de las acciones clase B, lo que le confiere el 85,1% del poder de voto total. Las acciones que saldrán al mercado serán exclusivamente de clase A, y el flotante público rondará el 4%. El objetivo es claro: captar capital sin ceder la capacidad de tomar decisiones de forma unilateral.
Más allá del cohete y el satélite, SpaceX es hoy también el principal socio de lanzamiento de la NASA y opera Starlink, la constelación de internet satelital con cerca de 10.000 unidades en órbita. Recientemente, la compañía integró xAI, la división de inteligencia artificial de Musk que alberga el modelo de lenguaje Grok.
Lo que hace singular este IPO no es solo su tamaño, sino quién puede participar en él. Por primera vez, inversores minoristas europeos tienen acceso real a una oferta de esta envergadura, a través de plataformas como Revolut, Trade Republic, DeGiro, Kraken o Santander. Según Dmitry Petrov, director general de Wealth & Trading en Revolut, tanto reguladores como empresas están construyendo vías para que el inversor ordinario pueda acceder a grandes operaciones a través de intermediarios autorizados. La exclusión histórica de los mercados europeos respecto a los grandes IPOs estadounidenses está comenzando a romperse.
SpaceX is about to become the most expensive company ever to go public. If the terms hold, the aerospace manufacturer will be valued at $1.77 trillion when it lists on the Nasdaq—a figure that edges past Saudi Aramco's record-setting debut in December 2019, when the Saudi oil giant raised $29.4 billion and achieved a market capitalization of $1.7 trillion. Nothing in the history of public markets has been larger.
The gap between SpaceX and the next-largest offerings is staggering. Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce platform, went public at a $231 billion valuation. SoftBank, the Japanese technology and investment conglomerate, raised capital at $63 billion. Both pale beside what SpaceX is about to do. On day one of trading, the company will rank among the ten most valuable corporations on Earth, positioned above household names like Broadcom, Inditex, Meta, and even Tesla—Elon Musk's other major enterprise. Only giants like Nvidia ($5.1 trillion), Apple ($4.6 trillion), and Alphabet ($4.4 trillion) will tower above it.
Musk has engineered the offering to preserve his grip on the company. SpaceX operates two classes of shares: Class A grants one vote per share, while Class B grants ten votes per share. Musk currently holds 12.3 percent of Class A shares and 93.6 percent of Class B shares, giving him 85.1 percent of total voting power and roughly half the company's equity. After the IPO, his voting control will remain essentially unchanged. The shares being offered to the public will be Class A only, which means Musk retains the ability to make unilateral decisions about the company's direction. The float—the percentage of shares available for public trading—will be around 4 percent. As one analyst noted, the point is straightforward: Musk wants to raise capital while keeping absolute control.
SpaceX designs, manufactures, launches, and operates advanced aerospace products and services. The company operates the Starlink satellite internet constellation, which now has roughly 10,000 units in orbit. It is NASA's primary launch partner following the retirement of the Space Shuttle program. Recently, SpaceX absorbed xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence unit, which houses the Grok language model and was previously folded into X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The IPO has sparked unusual interest among retail investors, particularly in Europe. Historically, major U.S. public offerings have been difficult or impossible for individual European investors to access. That dynamic is shifting. Santander is coordinating retail participation in Europe. Multiple brokers and banks have opened their platforms to allow customers to reserve shares ahead of Friday's offering, including Revolut, Trade Republic, DeGiro, xtb, Kraken, GVC Gaesco, Renta 4 Banco, Interactive Brokers, and Santander itself. More platforms may join the list in coming days. According to Dmitry Petrov, the general director of Wealth & Trading at Revolut, both regulators and companies are creating pathways for ordinary investors to participate in major offerings through authorized intermediaries. The largest IPOs of the past decade have occurred in American markets and have largely remained out of reach for European retail investors. That exclusion is beginning to end.
Notable Quotes
The point is clear: Musk wants to raise money while keeping total control of the enterprise, given that only Class A shares will trade publicly.— xtb analyst commentary
The largest IPOs of the past decade have been largely out of reach for European retail investors, but regulators and companies are now creating pathways for ordinary investors to participate through authorized intermediaries.— Dmitry Petrov, Revolut Wealth & Trading director
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Musk structure the shares this way if he's raising capital anyway?
Because he doesn't want to lose control. If he issued only one class of shares, his stake would be diluted by the public offering, and he'd lose decision-making power. With Class B shares worth ten votes each, he can raise billions while keeping 85 percent of voting rights. It's legal, it's disclosed, and it's how he keeps SpaceX his.
So retail investors are buying into a company where one person makes all the decisions?
Essentially, yes. They're buying exposure to SpaceX's growth and cash flows, but they have no say in strategy or direction. That's the trade-off. Some investors accept that because they believe in the company's mission and prospects. Others won't touch it for that reason.
Why is this IPO so much larger than Saudi Aramco's?
Partly because SpaceX is worth more now than Aramco was in 2019. But also because the valuation reflects what investors think the company could become—not just what it does today. Starlink alone is a multi-hundred-billion-dollar business in potential. Add in government contracts, space tourism, and the AI integration, and the number starts to make sense.
What changes for European investors with this offering?
For years, they couldn't participate in major U.S. IPOs without jumping through regulatory hoops. Now brokers like Revolut and Trade Republic are handling the paperwork, making it as simple as buying any other stock. It's a regulatory shift that opens the door to deals that were previously closed to them.
Is there a risk this is a bubble?
That's the question everyone's asking. SpaceX is profitable and has real revenue. But at $1.77 trillion, you're paying for a future that hasn't fully materialized yet. If Starlink doesn't scale as expected, or if competition emerges, the valuation could look expensive in hindsight.