SpaceX has officially gone public in what is being hailed as the largest initial public offering in history.
The company priced its shares at $135 on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SPCX, raising $75 billion in a landmark debut that underscores massive investor enthusiasm for the world’s leading private space exploration company.
In an emotional and reflective speech, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell addressed the team, guests, and investors, recounting the company’s remarkable 24-year journey since its founding in 2002.
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Shotwell highlighted the long list of breakthroughs that many once dismissed as impossible:
• Becoming the first private company to launch a rocket into orbit
• Developing the reusable Falcon 9 booster, which transformed economics in spaceflight
• Flying astronauts to the International Space Station
• Deploying the Starlink megaconstellation to deliver high-speed internet worldwide.
She further emphasized the persistent skepticism the company faced and how the team repeatedly proved the doubters wrong. “We proved them wrong,” became a quiet theme throughout the remarks as she celebrated the resilience and innovation that brought SpaceX to this moment.
Notably, as Space X goes public Morgan Stanley served as joint lead and sole stabilization agent for the transaction. In a statement accompanying the announcement, the firm congratulated the team on this historic milestone and highlighted the company’s extraordinary achievements in advancing human spaceflight.
The listing ceremony carried special significance as numerous SpaceX employees participated in the opening trades, with team members investing nearly $1 billion collectively on the first day.
The IPO marks a significant transition for SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 and has grown into a dominant force in the aerospace industry.
Best known for its reusable Falcon rockets, Starlink satellite internet constellation, and ambitious plans for Mars colonization, SpaceX has transformed the economics of space travel and expanded access to satellite communications worldwide.
Market reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, with investors betting on SpaceX’s diversified revenue streams, from government contracts with NASA to its rapidly scaling Starlink network serving customers globally.
The company’s deep-space ambitions, including crewed missions to the Moon and Mars, continue to capture the imagination of both the public and capital markets.
Strong investor demand drove shares higher in early trading, pushing the market capitalization beyond $2 trillion at times and propelling Elon Musk’s net worth past the $1 trillion mark. Musk, who holds a significant equity stake (around 42%), officially became the world’s first trillionaire.
Musk addressed employees from Starbase, Texas, during the ceremonial trading start. He reflected on giving the company less than a 10% chance of success when founded in 2002, now celebrating its transformation into a public giant advancing humanity toward a multi-planetary future.
He said,
“If people had told me this was going to happen [years ago], I would be like, man, you must be smoking some REALLY good crack because I think this company is going to fail!”
“I gave SpaceX less than a 10% chance of succeeding at all, to be clear. In fact, I told people this: I said, ‘look, we’re probably going to fail, but, you know, we should give it a try because if we don’t, if if there’s not a new company that enters space, we will never be a truly spacefaring civilization.”
Thousands of SpaceX employees are also set to become millionaires through stock options.
As SpaceX begins its new chapter as a publicly traded company, all eyes will be on its ability to execute on ambitious timelines while delivering sustainable growth and innovation in the rapidly expanding space economy.
The successful debut at a $75 billion valuation cements SpaceX’s position as one of the most valuable and influential technology companies of the era.