Elon Musk's mega-conglomerate SpaceX is about to launch an initial public offering of stock that is expected to break records — and soon the world will know just how historic that IPO is going to be.
In a June filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SpaceX said it is aiming to raise $75 billion by selling more than 555 million shares at an expected price of $135 each — but the amount raised could be bigger if the initial share price is set higher.
The listing price is expected to be revealed late Thursday, and the stock is expected to start trading publicly on Friday under the ticker SPCX. It could be the biggest initial public offering ever, eclipsing the current record holder, Saudi Aramco, whose 2019 listing netted $29.4 billion.
SpaceX acquired Musk's AI company, xAI, this year, and that makes it part of a trio of huge artificial intelligence-related IPOs in the works. ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Anthropic, owner of the popular Claude AI models, have also filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin the process of what are sure to be giant IPOs of their own, likely later this year.
Analysts say these three IPOs could reshape markets and inject new volatility into equities, as already sky-high expectations for AI companies come face-to-face with the reality of how these companies are run.
A test of investor appetite
The SpaceX IPO is as much a test of investor appetite for rocketry and artificial intelligence as it is for CEO Musk himself, analysts say. "For a lot of people looking at this deal, whether you want to buy it or not is in part a bet on Elon Musk," said Angelo Bochanis, an associate at Renaissance Capital, which tracks IPOs.
According to the company's listing prospectus, Musk will retain a tight grip on the company by controlling the board and holding more than 80% of stock voting power.
That carries potential risk, Bochanis said. Musk is one of the best-known figures in corporate America and has made Tesla the most valuable car company in the world. But Bochanis notes that Tesla's share price — and profits in 2025 — took a hit when Musk turned his focus last year to leading DOGE, President Trump's controversial effort to ostensibly make government more efficient by cutting back federal programs and staffing.
"There are a lot of people who are really sold on his vision and sold on his expertise running this company thus far," said Bochanis. "There are also a lot of people concerned about the fact that, more than any listing ever, this is a company going public where Elon Musk has near-total say of how everything works. He has his hand in a lot of different jars. His attention is very much divided."
IPOs can be a "sobering moment" for big tech companies
The public listing of shares by SpaceX and, later, Anthropic and OpenAI will also open up these companies to scrutiny that, as private firms, they have not yet faced. Listed companies are required to file public quarterly and annual financial reports, as well as other paperwork, giving investors a look under the hood.
These IPOs are a "sobering moment," said Songyee Yoon, managing partner at Principal Venture Partners, a fund that focuses on AI. Early investors, like venture funds, buy into the possibilities and promise of startups and new technologies like AI, she said. The public market places more value on profits and practical business models — and at present, the public has limited ability to assess these companies' profitability.
"It is true that it's a kind of technology with huge potential, but I think we have to also be grounded in thinking about what we can actually accomplish within reasonable means," she said.
AI is a relatively new technology, she noted, and its development is constrained by resources, including computing power and energy. Popular cutting-edge AI models, like ChatGPT and Claude, also all tend to represent one form of AI, which may or may not end up being the most scalable and useful, she said. Different AI technologies — as well as other companies — could turn out to be more profitable bets.
"We still are very early in terms of innovation and technology development," she said. "There is a long way to go, which means it will be a very bumpy road."
An infusion of cash — and a volatile market
The SpaceX listing comes at a time when stocks, led by tech companies, have been wobbling after huge run-ups amid mounting concerns about the return on investment for AI. By the closing bell on Wednesday, the Nasdaq composite had shed 7.4% since hitting an all-time high on June 1.
The SpaceX IPO — along with those of Anthropic and OpenAI — could also lead investors to shift large chunks of money away from other listed companies and into these new ones. This could spark some market turbulence that could even affect the portfolios of people who didn't actively buy SpaceX stock.
The Nasdaq, FTSE Russell and other stock index firms have agreed to fast-track the inclusion of SpaceX shares in their indexes, which means passive investment funds that track indexes, like retirement and education funds, will have to acquire the shares.
"There's a giant risk for volatility," said Bochanis. "If investments are going to get more concentrated, if more people are going to be putting a larger percentage of their money into a couple of names, then that risk of one bad earnings call is really going to be felt by people."
Friday's listing also comes at a time when the stock market and the U.S. economy have been propelled by private venture funds and the government investing hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence companies.
At its targeted share price of $135, SpaceX's valuation would reach around $1.75 trillion, making it one of the 10 biggest listed companies on Earth. Analysts say Anthropic and OpenAI are likely to also list with valuations above $1 trillion each.
The IPOs, in addition to enriching early investors, will infuse fresh cash into the companies. In its prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, SpaceX said it will use the money for continued growth of its AI compute infrastructure, launch facilities and vehicles, and satellite constellations.
"There's just tons of money going into this," Ethan Feller, a stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said about AI. But, he pointed out, that level of investment is not guaranteed indefinitely. "What would ultimately make the market potentially go down is this liquidity stopping to flow into these things," he said.
Feller said two other factors could put a damper on the flow of money into AI: tougher future regulations for AI firms and higher interest rates prompted by rising inflation.
And these companies will have to prove that they can be profitable.
"The ultimate question that this whole thing hinges on is: These companies aren't profitable yet, [so] how does this business model work?" he said. "What are, ultimately, the margins going to be for running large language models and running this software?"
Once the stock begins to trade Friday, the listing price is only the starting point. It could soar higher or dip lower in the coming days. That's why Rodney Comegys, chief investment officer and head of global equity for Vanguard Capital Management, advises caution for retail investors.
"Investing in an IPO process can be highly speculative, and it's really difficult to determine the path of an IPO on a given day," he said. "Anybody who's thinking about participating in SpaceX's IPO, to do it only in a speculative way, it is really not the best way to do long-term investing."
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