Business & Economics
SpaceX Lines Up 2026 IPO Targeting $1 Trillion-Plus Valuation
For the first time, SpaceX has opened talks with banks for a June–July 2026 stock debut that would raise at least $25 billion and value the company north of $1 trillion.
Focusing Facts
- Reuters source: SpaceX aims to sell >$25 billion of shares in the IPO, one of the biggest cash raises ever attempted.
- Bloomberg reports internal targets of a $1.5 trillion post-money valuation—10× Facebook’s 2012 IPO size and dwarfing the $29 billion Saudi Aramco raise.
- SpaceX booked roughly $15 billion in 2025 revenue, with 8 million Starlink subscribers providing the bulk, according to company estimates cited by Bloomberg.
Context
The last time capital markets saw anything comparable was Saudi Aramco’s 2019 $1.7 trillion float, itself echoing the 1600s East India Company charter that blended state aims with private capital. A trillion-dollar SpaceX listing would mark a decisive pivot in the 50-year arc from Apollo-era state spaceflight to a commercial, billionaire-led model: NASA is now a customer, not the owner. It also signals the end of the 2010s trend of mega-startups staying private indefinitely; if the largest centicorn needs public liquidity, others will follow, potentially rewiring how pension and index funds gain exposure to frontier tech. Over a century, the move could be remembered less for the IPO league-table records and more as the moment orbital infrastructure (satellite internet, space-based data centers) became treated as an ordinary utility—much as the 1919 RCA spin-off normalized commercial radio. Whether Musk can juggle multiple trillion-dollar publics, or whether investor scrutiny reins in his Mars timetable, will shape the narrative historians write in 2125 about the first real privatization of deep-space ambition.
Perspectives
US mainstream financial/business media
e.g., Yahoo! Finance, CNN Business — Frame the possible SpaceX IPO as a historic capital-raising event that could double Musk’s fortune while giving the company cash for Starship and Starlink expansion, noting but not dwelling on regulatory scrutiny. Coverage leans on eye-popping valuation figures and Musk’s celebrity to drive investor-oriented readership, so downside risks are mentioned but not deeply probed.
Indian and other growth-market business outlets
e.g., Firstpost, The Economic Times — Hail the mooted 2026 listing as a blockbuster that could turbo-charge a rebounding global IPO market and cement space technology as the next big growth frontier. Stories accentuate the upside for capital markets and national investors, echoing bullish banker quotes while glossing over governance worries or Musk’s bandwidth to run multiple trillion-dollar firms.
Tech industry skeptic/critical commentary outlets
e.g., Gizmodo, East Bay Times — Cast doubt on the sky-high valuation and highlight red flags—from governance worries about Musk juggling companies to the speculative nature of orbital AI data centers—warning that public investors may be left to sort out the hype. Skeptical tone can tilt toward contrarian click-worthiness, spotlighting worst-case scenarios and technological hurdles to differentiate from more bullish financial press.