SpaceX on Thursday confirmed it will begin trading on the Nasdaq exchange Friday in the largest IPO in history. The blockbuster market debut positions founder Elon Musk to become the world's first trillionaire, at least on paper, according to multiple reports.
The company priced more than 555 million shares at $135 each in a filing with U.S. regulators. That valuation of just under $1.8 trillion places SpaceX among Wall Street's top 10 biggest firms, exceeding the market cap of Musk's own Tesla.
Investors across Asia have been largely shut out of the offering, forcing them to find creative ways to bet on SpaceX's $75 billion global spectacle, Bloomberg reported. The IPO's scale and geographic reach underscore the immense demand for exposure to the private space sector.
The debut marks a watershed moment for the space industry, with SpaceX now valued more than established aerospace giants. Musk's fortune, measured in part by the WSJ at $3.6 million an hour leading up to the IPO, faces headwinds: Forbes notes his net worth dropped more than $50 billion ahead of the listing.
Some analysts question whether SpaceX can sustain its lofty valuation amid a volatile market for growth stocks, though the company's dominance in satellite launches and Starlink broadband provides a revenue base that could justify the price.